Sokka
by FurryFerret
Summary: Sokka thought his life was pretty weird back during the 100 Year War but that was nothing compared to what his life had now become after a trip to the Fire Nation, a reunion with the Fire Nation's fallen princess and the possibility of a World War. (Takes place 3 years after A:TLA)
1. Chapter One

**AN: ****This is my first fanfic ever and I'm not sure If I'm actually gonna continue this but anyway please tell me what you think by leaving a review! Thanks. By the way: I don't own ATLA or LoK.**

* * *

**Chapter One:**

**A Normal Afternoon**

* * *

He waited patiently for her to return, he always did. The open windows allowed for the cool autumn breeze to roll into the room. The room was covered in paintings, mostly his, and treasures from around the world. They had done a lot of traveling since the war ended 3 years ago.

3 years... has it really been that long? 3 years ago he helped take down the Fire Nation, a task many grown men failed to do but one he accomplished at the age of 16.

The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor brought him back to reality. She was here. She took off her shoes and left them at the door and headed straight for the bathroom to clean off her makeup. Same as any other day.

"I thought you were working late tonight," she asked from behind the closed bathroom door.

"My dad said I could leave early," he replied. "He says I need to slow down."

She was now out of the bathroom and in the kitchen. "You do need to take it a bit slow though, you work yourself too hard." She took an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and took a bite from it.

"Throw me one," he said, pointing at the apple in her hand. She threw an apple back and he completely missed the catch.

She gave him a look of disappointment and shook her head. "Some chief you're gonna be."

"Yeah, about that," he started, now removing the remainders of his apple from the ground, " I don't think I'm ready to become chief."

"You're not ready or you don't want to be?"

He shrugged, "A bit of both."

She smirked. She knew him far too well. He hated having things handed to him, he wanted to earn them. But he had earned this. He truly deserved to be chief.

"What's holding you back?" She asked.

He sat down in a chair near the window, enjoying the breeze and admiring her beauty.

She hadn't changed much since the war, her lips had gotten fuller and her face had gotten slimmer. She also didn't cut her hair shirt anymore; instead she let it grow so long it reaches the end of her back.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"No," he answered truthfully.

She just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever, just do what you think is best for both you and the Southern Water Tribe."

She looked at the floor and saw some of his clothing lying on the floor. "I'll try my best," he said. She picked up his dark blue shirt and threw it at his face.

"I've seen your best, you might wanna try harder."

Her hand wrapped around the door handle and she pushed the door open. She wasn't surprise to find the room in a messy state like this; clothes all over the place, sheets of paper covering the floor and a boomerang hanging from the windowsill.

"Suki..." he started.

"Yes Sokka?"

"...I love you," he said with his usual goofy grin.

She looked back at the room and sighed.

"I know you do."


	2. Chapter Two

**AN:**** I don't have a lot of free time on my hands but I was just itching to post this story. I'm not sure how often I'll be posting chapters but I'll try keeping the wait to less than 2 weeks. Thanks for reading. Here's chapter two!**

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

**The Girl with the Blue Flames**

* * *

"But I'm not ready. I don't want to do this!"

"Sokka, as my son you'll eventually lead the Tribe and when that day comes you have to be ready."

"But what about the other tasks you assigned to me? I can't just abandon them!" Sokka shouted, banging his fist on the Chief's table.

His father, not fazed by his son's reckless behaviour, ignored him completely and took a letter out of his drawer. It was from the Fire Nation. Sokka sighed, he had lost. He reluctantly took the letter from his father and stormed out of the office building into the busy streets of the Southern Water Tribe. Since the war, reconstruction became Hakoda's top priority. The Tribe was no longer just a few small huts and igloos; there were actual buildings now, still not as many as the North though.

When he arrived home, Sokka sat down and opened the letter.

_"Sokka, your father and I have spoken and agreed that as next-in-line you'll need experience in leading and taking responsibility, even for the things you haven't done. Who better to assist than myself, I am currently cleaning up after my great grandfather's mistakes. I'll need help keeping things under control here in the Fire Nation because there have been several rebellions and riots these last few years and-"_

Suki walked into the lounge and threw herself on the couch, next to Sokka, who had now stuffed the letter in his mouth. He didn't want to tell Suki about this because he knew she wouldn't want him to leave. They barely got any time for just the two of them and she had just taken a week off and come down to spend some time with him.

"What you eating?" Suki asked, her head on Sokka's lap.

Sokka panicked and forced the letter down his throat, "A dumpling. It was the last one though."

The two talked for a few minutes, Sokka trying to steer away from any topic to do with the Water Tribe, before Suki fell asleep. When it started to get dark, Sokka carried her the room she had been sleeping in. He sat by her and watched her sleep. He felt bad but he had to go, he had no choice. Hopefully he wouldn't be gone for too long, maybe he could go see her in Kyoshi Island afterwards. He kissed her forehead and headed for his room to pack.

* * *

Sokka could see the Fire Nation ship waiting for him. He sighed and boarded the ship. A guard showed him to his cabin while another carried his bags. He lay on the cabin bed for a few hours hoping he'd drift off and end this day but he couldn't. There was too much on his mind. He decided to get some fresh air.

As he was about to get up and open the door, a girl, younger than Sokka, walked in. "Would you like something to eat or drink, Master Sokka?" she asked. Sokka smiled, it had been a while since he'd been called that and it felt good hearing that title again.

"I'm cool, thanks though."

The girl nodded and left the room. She was about to close the door but was stopped by Sokka. "I was just leaving," he said.

He could hear loud banging and thuds coming from the room next-door. "Finally, something to get my mind off this," he said aloud. He walked out to the room's door and peeked through the keyhole. The room's floor was covered in ripped pieces of material from the bed sheets and ceramic plate pieces too. He could also see a person, probably the one who had created this mess. Suddenly something large hit the door. Sokka fell back against the wall behind him. Yep, this person definitely caused the mess. Sokka knocked on the door and the noise stopped.

"Is everything ok in there?" he asked.

Instead of a reply he heard the door lock. He looked back into the keyhole and the person was now in bed, under whatever was left of it's sheets. He could hear sniffs and light whimpering. The person was crying. A guard, the one who had shown Sokka to his room, approached him. "Fire Lord Zuko says to leave her be," he said.

"Who is she?" Sokka asked, still looking through the keyhole.

"I don't know, the Fire Lord didn't say. I tried asking but she nearly burned me. Her flame's quite unusual."

Sokka looked up from the keyhole and at the guard. "What do you mean?"

"It's blue."

* * *

Sokka awoke in the morning, not only scared for his life but also with a lot of questions to ask Zuko when he arrives in the Capitol. What was he thinking, allowing her to share a ship with him? What if she went crazy and blew it up? Sokka jumped when the door opened. He relaxed when he saw it was the young girl from the night before. "Breakfast's ready,' she said and he followed her to the ship's dining area.

The dining area was well decorated with flowers and paintings. A large and expensive looking chandelier hung above the long glass dining table. Sokka laughed when he saw one of the paintings hanging on the wall nearest to him. It was the one he had painted at Iroh's teashop just after they'd defeated the Fire Nation. There was also another painting of him and the others the year afterwards. He missed them. He missed Katara. The last time he saw his younger sister was at the last reunion Zuko hosted which was just over a year ago. Just then five waiters walked in with enough food to feed the whole Earth Kingdom or at least Toph. Why would they prepare so much food for one person, he thought to himself but then he remembered he wasn't alone.

She walked in and sat at the table a half hour after Sokka arrived. She was looked like a wreck. Her tangled black hair covered her face, her gown covered in scorch marks with material hanging from it in some places. They ate quietly together for a few minutes before she broke the silence.

"What?" she said rudely and looked up at him. She had caught Sokka's staring.

Sokka swallowed hard when his gaze met her face. Her left eye was swollen and the skin around it a dark purple. She also had a bruises on her cheeks and a cut on her lip.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Why do you care?"

He saw that she had bags under her eyes; she clearly didn't sleep last night. "You don't look alright..."

She didn't answer. They both continued to eat in silence. After dinner, dessert arrived. She didn't stay. Sokka looked over at her plate and saw that she had barely touched it. What happened to her? She wasn't like the girl he remembered. The girl who broke the walls of Ba Sing Se, the girl who threw his girlfriend in prison, the confident and intelligent one. The girl he just saw looked alone and afraid, her voice trembled slightly when she spoke and she looked extremely unhealthy.

Sokka sat in his room, he had just finished writing a letter to Suki, an apology door creaked open and the ship's captain, Chao, walked in. "We will be arriving in the Fire Nation tomorrow at Dawn. Sokka nodded and decided it would be a good idea to get some rest; tomorrow was going to be a long day. The door next-door shut and made a loud banging noise that echoed in the corridors and Sokka's room. He fell asleep to the sound of glass shattering, wood breaking and loud crying from next-door.

"What happened to Azula?" was probably the first question he was going to ask Zuko tomorrow.


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:**** Do I really need one, you all know I don't own Avatar... or do I?**

* * *

**Chapter Three:**

**The Fire Nation**

* * *

Sokka stepped off the ship, the sun's bright rays burning his eyes. "Why is the Fire Nation so HOT!" Sokka screamed out loud. A few people around the docks laughed. Sokka had spent the last 4 months in the South, where a day when it doesn't snow is considered boiling. Sokka headed for the streets, Zuko arranged a train, probably luxury, that would take him straight to the Capital. Thank the Spirits, there was no way I was going to walk in this heat, he thought to himself as he stepped onto the train. He was alone; Zuko probably organized something special for his sister, something fireproof.

When he reached the station in the Capital he went looking for a map. It had been over a year since he had last been here and he didn't want to get lost, he just wanted to get to the Palace and take a dip in the pond.

"You lost?" and old man, the cute kind, asked him. His hair dark with white streaks running through it and his eyes the colour of caramel, like most people from the Fire Nation.

"Is it that obvious?" Sokka laughed.

"I didn't think someone in your get-up would know how to get around the Fire Nation."

"Sokka looked down at his outfit, he was still wearing his Water Tribe attire, excluding the jacket. His dark blue fingerless gloves were the only piece of clothing that exposed his skin.

"That's kinda true"

"Where you headed?" the old man asked. "I've got a carriage outside, I could give you a ride.

When did Fire Nation citizens get so nice, Sokka thought. "Thanks, I'm headed for the Palace."

"The palace? Why would you be going there...wait..." the old man's eyes squinted as he examined Sokka. "You're Sokka, of the Southern Water Tribe! You're a friend of the Fire Lord!" The old man was now on his knees and the people around the two stopped to see what was happening. "It would be my honour to take you to the palace."

"Uh... Thanks." Sokka's palms sweaty because of all the eyes on him. He hadn't felt this way since his failed attempt at a speech on The Day of Black Sun.

The old man's carriage wasn't as fancy as those belonging to Fire Nation royalty but still looked quite expensive. Two horses stood before it, to pull it of course. They looked well fed and fit, unlike Azula. Azula. Where was she? The old man told Sokka many stories, most of which sounded untrue, about other instances where he had run into members of Team Avatar. He also told Sokka his name was Chun and that he was at the station to pick up his granddaughter, Ning, the young girl who worked on the ship. Sokka told him about the GAang's adventures during the war and about the day Katara and him found Aang in the iceberg.

"One hundred years! Only the avatar could survive that long frozen in the sea," he shouted.

Chun used to be a highly-ranked Fire Nation soldier, which would explain why he lives in the Capital. He didn't agree with the Nation's actions but continued to work to support his wife and children.

"When Admiral Zhao told me of the Siege of the North and his plans I pulled out. I packed my bags and told him I had other matters to deal with here in the Fire Nation."

"He was crazy," Sokka added.

"Out of his mind!" Chun cried out, his arms waving above his head.

Finally they had arrived at the palace. Chun couldn't believe his eyes. He had never been to the palace; he reigned before he got the opportunity to. It took some persuading but Sokka managed to get him in. It was the least he could do.

"Who's your new friend?" the Fire Lord grinned; he was standing at the top of the stares leading to the palace doors.

"Fire Lord Zuko, meet Chun. Chun, Fire Lord. He served the Fire Nation a couple years ago."

Zuko bowed, "It's my honour Chun."

Chun didn't say anything but he bowed back. Sokka could see tears forming in his eyes and smiled. Chun turned and looked Sokka in the eyes, "Thank you son. He gave Sokka a hug. "You don't understand how much this means to me."

"Making people happy is what I do best," Sokka flashed Chun a goofy grin.

"Chun, why don't I show you around the palace," Zuko said. Chun nodded like an obedient dog. "And why don't you go put your stuff in your room," Zuko said to Sokka.

Sokka's room in the palace was much bigger than the one he had back home. The walls were a dark red and the wooden floors maroon. The bedding matched the floor but had a bright blue pillow on it, a little touch of home. Katara's idea.

Sokka threw himself onto the bed. He dozed off and awoke when a servant called him for dinner. Dinner! Sokka's favourite thing about the Fire Nation was the food especially food from the palace chefs. Zuko had asked the chef's to prepare Sokka's favourite, Komodo sausage and dumplings. Sokka could smell it from his room.

Sokka made his way through the wide passages and to the dining hall. Zuko was already seated at the long dining table eating. Sokka sat on the chair next to his, his meal still too hot he decided now would be the perfect time for some catching up with his second best-friend, Toph first. He considered Aang a younger brother.

"So, how's the Fire Nation been?" Sokka asked.

"Flaming hot," Zuko replied instantly. Sokka found it hilarious how Zuko sometimes tried to have a sense of humour. "And the South?"

"Freezing cold," the two laughed at their dry jokes.

"Was Suki ok with you leaving her there?" Zuko asked, wiping his face with a napkin.

"I kinda didn't tell her I was coming here."

"You just ran off while she was asleep?"

"I did send a letter, she probably isn't happy-"

"Don't worry, she'll understand."

"Hopefully."

Sokka had just noticed another plate, roast duck, on the other end of the table and that's when he remembered the question he wanted to ask Zuko.

"What's up with Azula?" Sokka ask casually. Zuko stopped chewing and after, what felt like 5 minutes, looked at Sokka.

"What do you mean?"

"Why's she so crazy..." Sokka added. "Well...crazier than usual."

"She's been through a lot."

"I thought you sent her away to help her forget or at least come to terms with the stuff she's been through."

"I did." Zuko was beginning to get annoyed.

"Then why is she-"

"Why is who what?" Azula was standing at the hall's entrance. She was wearing a maroon gown that reached the top of her knees. Sokka could see just how thin and pale she'd become.

"Why are you late for dinner," Zuko covered for Sokka.

"That's none of your business," Azula sat down on her chair on the far side of the table. "Besides, it's not like you care anyway."

"Azula-"

"Don't start," she interrupted. "I don't want to hear it."

Sokka could feel the room start to get warmer. The two firebenders obviously had some stuff they had to get off their shoulders so Sokka got up, thanked Zuko for the meal and left for his room. If an Agni Kai was about to go down he did not want to be caught in the crossfire.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four:**

**The Tree &amp; The Pond**

* * *

For the first time in ages it rained in the Fire Nation Capital. Sokka had stripped down to his undergarments hoping to go for a swim when it started pouring. He didn't mind though, he was going to get soaked anyway. Sokka, unable to get back inside the palace because he was wet, decided to walk around and see the garden.

The garden had the widest range of flowers Sokka had ever seen, flowers from all over the world. He followed the tile pathway. Even the tiles looked imported! They were pale grey and smooth as silk. The garden was obviously tended to recently, Sokka thought to himself, looking around.  
After walking for a few minutes Sokka thought about finding a place to relax, at least until the rain stopped. He found a large tree near the pond.

"Are you following me now?"

Unfortunately he wasn't alone.

"I didn't expect to see you outside. Don't princesses hate the outdoors"

"Incase you haven't noticed I'm not a princess anymore."

Sokka didn't know how to reply to that so after a while he turned and started walking back to the pathway.

"You're still afraid of me, aren't you?"

He stopped in his tracks, "I was never afraid of you." He turned around to face her. She was sitting and leaning on the tree. "And I'm not afraid of you now."

Azula grinned, "You're a terrible liar."

Sokka sighed loudly, "I don't have time for this..."

"Then why are you still standing here? You could've just left but you chose to stay. What do you want from me?"

Sokka hated the way she was looking at him. It was like annoying him was her favourite source of fun. It probably was.

"The guards won't let me back in-"

"Because you're a peasant," Azula interrupted.

"Because I'm soaked."

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" She said, not noticing before. She had better things to think about than the half naked Water Tribe boy. Sokka looked down at himself. He had completely forgotten that he was just in his underwear. "Don't peasants wear clothes anymore?"

"I have a name you know," Sokka said, childishly.

"I know you have a name, idiot, I just prefer calling you 'peasant'."

"Well I don't."

"Well I don't care," Azula said, mocking him.

They both heard a loud bang. Sokka could see lightning in the distance and looked back at Azula, under the tree, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. Sokka held his hand out to her. She might not be the nicest person but he couldn't leave her here where she'd probably be struck by lightning.

"What are you doing?" she said. She pulled a disgusted face and pushed his hand away.

"You can't stay here. There's lightning ahead-"

"I can take care of myself!" she shouted back. Sokka was surprised by this sudden outburst. Azula always seemed so calm and composed, this was the first time he'd seen here... be human. "Why do you all keep babying me? I'm a grown woman and fully capable of taking care of myself! I'm not weak!"

"I didn't say you were weak, I just thought-"

"Well stop thinking about me and worry about your own life. Just... just leave me alone." The last sentence fading away, she was so quiet Sokka wasn't even sure if she had said anything.

Azula stormed off in the direction of the pond. Sokka followed her, there was a storm approaching and it would be a bad idea being around water when it arrived. Azula probably knew that though. She was sitting cross-legged on a bench, watching the water. Sokka thought about sitting with her and asking these past few years but he changed his mind. She did say it was none of his business anyway. Just as Sokka was about leave another bang was heard, this one louder than the other, obviously closer. Sokka immediately looked back at Azula. She looked terrified, like a puppy during a fireworks ceremony. Her eyes were wide open; he could see how red they'd become. Her hair was wet and stuck to the sides of her face. Her makeup was beginning to run and Sokka could see the bruises and scars he saw back on the ship. She looked helpless.

* * *

Azula had dozed off on the bench, squirming every once in a while when she heard thunder. Sokka figured now would be the best time to sit on the bench. He sat beside the sleeping Azula. She looked so harmless especially when the thunder struck. Sokka chuckled; it was weird seeing her like this. What was all that stuff she had been screaming earlier about, the thought crawled back into his mind. Who called her weak? Zuko? It definitely was not him. Maybe Katara was right, she had gone crazy. Katara and Sokka wrote to each other all the time, mostly about things that didn't really matter. There was a time when they discussed Azula. He remembered her mentioning a mental facility but that was all.

Azula cuddled up closer to Sokka, he didn't notice at first, not until her head was on his shoulder. He felt extremely uncomfortable, he tried moving away from her but when the thunder struck she winced and her arms wrapped around his. He wasn't sure whether to push her away or leave her. What if he pushed her and she woke up? She'd turn him into dinner and not the good type. Her skin was warm against his. He didn't notice how cold he was, he had been standing in the rain without clothes on. He didn't want to admit it but he didn't want her to let go.

The rain stopped an hour later, Azula didn't let go though. He sneezed. Oh no. He would be getting to work tomorrow morning, he had no time for a cold. He sneezed again but this time he heard a 'Bless You'. She was awake and she was still holding him. Zuko arrived at the pond and before he could even say anything Sokka signaled for him to do something. Now he was truly uncomfortable, not physically but in every other way. Zuko didn't understand Sokka shady signals at first but eventually put 2 and 2 together.

"Azula, he's here to see," Zuko said.

"Tell him I don't want to see him."

Who's this _he_? Sokka thought to himself.

"Please don't do this now, Azula. We spoke about this."

Spoke about what?

"No Zuzu, you just told me you had scheduled an appointment for me and dinner. There was no discussion."

"Who's this _he_?" Sokka blurted out.

"_He_ doesn't concern you," Azula said rudely. She got up from the bench and walked towards the palace entranced. Sokka looked at Zuko, who sighed heavily before following his sister.

* * *

That afternoon Sokka was sitting on the stairs at the palace entrance when he spotted something familiar in the sky. Appa! He landed and Sokka couldn't help but run towards him and give him a huge hug. He missed him and all the memories connected to him. The passengers jumped off his side, Aang wasn't one of them though. It was Toph and her parents. Katara hopped off and smiled at her brother. She looked pressed for time so Sokka just smiled back. Toph hadn't paid Sokka any attention but he knew she had felt his presence. She turned around and winked at him.

"Your space sword's on Appa's back," she said before following the other 3 into the palace.

SPACE SWORD! Sokka had completely forgotten about it, it took a while, but he did. Toph had gone looking for it a few years after Sozin's Comet; she felt she owed him for saving her life back on the war balloon. Sokka climbed onto Appa's back and saw it, it's pitch black blade was covered in dirt but and it's handle broken. He took it and headed for the pond to wash it off.

Not too long after they had arrived, Katara, Toph, Lao &amp; Poppy were heading back to Appa. Sokka had just finished cleaning his sword when he saw them leaving.

"Katara!" he called out.

She turned around and said something to the others, probably telling them to wait a few minutes. "I missed you so much," she smiled and they hugged. "How's everyone back at home?"

"Dad's ok, Gran Gran and Grand-Pakku are too. Suki on the other hand..." he stopped. He had gotten a letter from Suki, she was definitely not ok but who could blame her.

"She's mad you left?"

"She's mad I didn't tell her I was leaving."

"That wasn't very smart," Katara said, crossing her arms.

"I know," Sokka sighed. "Anyway, what was that all about," he said, pointing at the Beifong's on Appa's back.

"A few months ago Toph had another fallout with her parents," Sokka rolled his eyes, "so she came to stay here for a few days."

"They're back on good terms again?"

"Yeah, we came to get her stuff."

The two stood awkwardly in silence for a few minutes but as Katara was about to say goodbye Sokka interrupted. "You know what happened to Azula right?"

Katara sighed, "All I know is that after her defeat she snapped. She wasn't herself."

"And that she was sent to some mental facility."

"That too. Zuko hired many shrinks but none could make her normal again. A few months past and he decided that she needed serious tending too. That's when she was sent to the facility. That's all Zuko told me."

"At least he told you something," Sokka mumbled.

"I've got to go," Katara hugged him. "We'll see you soon."

"See you."

He watched the bison fly into the sky and fade away into the distance. He thought about writing a letter to his father, telling him that Katara was ok, but his father and him were currently not on speaking terms. Sokka was still upset with him. A servant came to tell Sokka that dinner was ready. Sokka wasn't hungry though, seeing Katara made him feel home sick.

"I'm not hungry... thanks though."

It was dark now, Sokka had been sitting outside for nearly 2 hours thinking. Thinking about home, thinking about Katara, thinking about Azula but mostly about Suki. The Kyoshi Warriors served as Zuko's bodyguards so he would be seeing her eventually but when. Zuko hadn't been in any form of trouble recently so they were not needed. He also thought about what had happened earlier on the bench near at the pond. How did Ozai manage to turn someone so innocent looking (and afraid of storms) into the most heartless person all those years ago?

* * *

Sokka slept on the steps, the noise of the Capital woke him early in the morning. He washed up and got dressed. He felt sick from the day before so he dressed heavily, just to be safe. Afterwards he wandered around the palace, everyone was still asleep. In the kitchen he found his dinner from the night before and ate it. Sokka decided to wait for Zuko in his office. When he entered Zuko's office and was surprised to find him awake. He was working on something that looked like a model of a city.

"The Fire Lord still plays with his toys," Sokka joked.

"This is not a toy and it doesn't really belong to me. It's more Aang's than mine."

"What's it for?" Sokka sat down on the chair in front of the desk.

"Plans for a city," Zuko said, not looking up from it. "We've been struggling to get rid of the colonies. The people have learned to live amongst each other."

"So instead of kicking the Fire Nation out you're going to make them more comfortable by building a city for them?"

"Not just for the Fire Nation but for anyone from any nation, benders and non-benders. Aang wants to turn the colonies into a new nation, a nation for everyone."

"A united nation?"

"Basically."

"So is there anything you'd like me to do while you work on this?" Sokka asked. Zuko still hadn't looked up from the model.

"Not yet," Zuko finally looked at him. "Just relax. Read a book maybe."

Sokka didn't move. He watched Zuko move buildings and little people.

"The United Republic of Nations," he mumbled.

Zuko stopped what he was doing and looked at him, "Did you say something?"

Sokka shook his head, "Nothing."


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five:**

**Haunted By The Past**

* * *

A week after meeting Katara &amp; the Beifongs, Aang came to the Fire Nation. Sokka had written letters to both friends and family every night. Suki had confirmed that she and the other Kyoshi Warriors would be coming back to the Fire Nation in the winter. Hakoda had continued construction down in the Southern Water Tribe but admitted that it was difficult without the designs for machinery provided by Sokka. Sokka had managed to get out of "leadership training" because of this very skill. Instead he had been working on, what he called, the United Republic of Nations with Zuko &amp; Aang.

"You found your space sword!" Aang cried out when he had first seen Sokka. Although he was nearly 16 now with broader shoulders and stubble on his chin, Aang still had his childlike playful personality. "And since when did you get so tall?"

Sokka hadn't noticed how much he'd grown although he was reminded by at least one person everyday. "Look at you though, you're nearly taller than me!"

Aang shrugged casually, "What can I say, I'm a man now."

The two laughed and Zuko rolled his eyes, "We've got work to do you two so let's get started."

When Sokka wasn't working or messing about with Aang he was outside, on the bench by the pond. He hated to admit it but he had thought more about Azula recently than Suki. She was just a puzzle and piecing everything together was the most fun he could have while alone. Azula hadn't left her room since the last week. She didn't come outside; she didn't have dinner with them either.

"Sokka!" he awoke as he heard someone call for him. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, yawning loudly as he did this. He put on a robe, dark blue, and headed for the voice's direction. It came from the library. The palace's library was huge, the size of an average house, and every inch of the walls was covered in books and scrolls.

"Sokka could you come down I need to talk to you about something," Zuko said. Sokka walked down the stairs and onto the library's ground floor. Zuko was sitting a desk and looked exhausted. "I need your help with something."

"Morning to you too," Sokka sighed. Zuko asked Sokka for favours nearly everyday, Sokka was used to it now.

"Azula hasn't left her room in days and I'm starting get a bit worried. Just a bit."

"What does this have to do with me?" Sokka said, annoyance in his voice.

"I saw you two on the bench and figured you probably have a better relationship with her than I do with her."

"I was just being nice."

"And that's why I need your help. I need you to talk her out of her room. She's been missing her meetings with him-"

"Who's this _him_ guy?" Sokka interrupted.

"A shrink, Dr. Guo. I hired him to speak to Azula, learn what's wrong with her. Why she was thrown out the clinic-"

"She was thrown out the mental facility?" Sokka wasn't too surprised. She could've destroyed the ship they were on a month ago. "What's going on with her?"

"You think if I knew I would've called in Dr. Guo?"

"Then get Dr. Guo to talk your sister out of her room then."

"Sokka please-

"Zuko, your sister nearly killed you and you're a bender, how well do you think I'll cope?"

Zuko sighed but nodded. "I understand."

Sokka grinned, "Good 'cause I was leaving anyway."

"I've got a meeting now with Aang, your father and the other world leaders, you can come if you'd like to?"

"No thank you," Sokka laughed and closed the door behind him.

When Sokka opened the door to his room he was surprised to find the devil herself sitting cross-legged on his bed. She was in silk ruby red gown and black pumps. Her skin was still a light grey but had healed and her hair in a messy bun. She had obviously just woken up because she wasn't wearing makeup.

"Holy Spirits! What are you doing in here?" Sokka cried out, unable to hide his fear.

"What did he say about me?" Azula said, ignoring his question.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, although you're very good at it." Sokka glared at her, fear turning into anger. "What did my brother say about me?"

"That you need to get out of your room," Sokka said, "which clearly you've done."

"Is that all?"

"And that you're a wreck."

She glared at him but then grinned, "He told you about the clinic?"

"The mental facility? Yes, yes he did."

Azula laughed loudly, "And I'm guessing you told him about the ship."

"No."

Azula stopped laughing, she looked at him with confusion.

"It did cross my mind though."

"Oh."

"What?" Sokka noticed her sudden change in attitude.

"Why didn't you tell him? I thought you hated me?"

"I didn't tell him 'cause it wasn't necessary and No, I don't hate you. Who told you that?"

"Well, I just thought-"

"That's the thing about you," Sokka interrupted (something he found himself doing often recently), "you think too much." He sat down next to Azula. "Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. I learnt that the hard way when you ruined my 'Day of the Black Sun' attack." Azula smiled weakly when he mentioned the failed attack.

"So you don't hate me?"

"No, to be honest I don't hate anyone. I used to hate everyone from the Fire Nation but I got over that years ago."

"Who would've thought a Water Tribe savage would be the only person who likes me..."

"I didn't say I liked you," Sokka grinned and he caught a glimpse of her smile before she covered her mouth with her hand.

Sokka smiled too. "Why can't you always be like this?"

"Like what?"

"Human."

* * *

Aang was bored; he had been in a meeting for the past 3 hours listening to the world's leaders talk about the effects the war had on both their economy and people. He had heard this in every single meeting he'd been in since the war ended.

"The problem is that the Fire Nation-"

"The problem is you're all going on about the past," Aang was sick of it, he needed to say something. "You all complain about what the Fire Nation did to you but have you even thought about solutions?" Everyone in the room stared at him, quietly. "The Water Tribes have begun reconstruction of their cities and yet the Ba Sing Se's wall is still as it was 3 years ago, destroyed."

"Aang..." Zuko was beginning to worry; he hadn't seen his friend this worked up before.

"Not now Zuko."

"We get it Aang, you've proved your point-"

"There's a rebellion on it's way." Aang announced.

"I've dealt with many rebellions before, I'm sure I can handle another one."

"Not just in the Fire Nation. I was warned by a lady from a small village in the Earth Kingdom and many others around the world about. Judging by what they've said we could be in for another war. We need to forget about the problems caused by the Fire Nation and defend ourselves and protect our people."

"You don't know whether the woman was telling the truth or not, we can't prepare for a war that isn't coming. We've just come from a 100 year long war. How do you think the people will react?" said Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe.

Zuko nodded in agreement, "Aang we understand your concern but some we've been misled by individuals before. We have to be dead sure something's coming before we start attacking small villages."

"Zuko, Arnook, I don't think you don't understand-"

"We'll stick to the plan we've had; rebuilding. Until we hear of anything suspicious happening we'll begin preparations for war," Chief Hakoda said, the other world leaders agreeing with his decision.

"But this time it could be serious!" Aang shouted.

"Could be but we're not entirely sure. We're not going to put our people in a state of panic because village-folk aren't happy with the way things are being run!" Arnook yelled back.

The room fell silent.

"Aang," Zuko paced a hand on his shoulder, "sit down."

Aang reluctantly did as he was told. The meeting continued but Aang didn't listen to the rest. He knew it in his gut, something was coming.

* * *

"I am human."

"But you don't act like it. You always act like the world belongs you-"

"Because it should."

"-and you're mean and heartless. You keep to yourself and don't trust anyone."

"That's true," she grinned.

"But I get the feeling that you're like this for a reason, like you're hiding something... something inside."

Sokka hadn't noticed but he had started speaking softer. He looked over to Azula and expected another comment from her but she was quiet. She was looking down at her hands. Her wrists had bruises; the marks resembled those chain's leave on skin. The nails were long and chipped.

"Azula..."

She didn't look up at him.

"What happened to you in the clinic?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"Did they hurt you?"

"No."

"The who did this to you?"

"My mother."

Sokka was confused but he didn't ask any more questions. She still hadn't looked at him and he could feel heat radiating from her hands. Her mother? How could her mother have done this to her? She had disappeared years ago, or at least that's what he was told.

"She thought I was a monster," Azula said out of nowhere. "My own mother thought I was a monster."

"So you became one."

"With the help of my father," she added. "He used as a weapon, firing me at everything in his way; Zuko, Ba Sing Se. That's all I ever was to him, a weapon. He told me that everything I was doing was right, that it was what was best for both the Nation and I. What's worse is that I actually believed him. I looked up to him, in my eyes he could do no wrong and when he fell I fell too."

"But you can come back, start over. You're 17! You've still got a future ahead of you. All you have to do is stop living in the past," Sokka said, unknowingly sounding like Aang in the meeting currently being held. "Show everyone that you can come back, that you're still as strong as you used to be. Start anew." Sokka stood up and put his hand out. She looked at his hand and then back at his face. "Let's go for a walk," he finished. She reluctantly took his hand and he lifted her off the bed. Sokka smiled and they headed for the palace gates.

* * *

Aang sat by the palace doors thinking. He had just caused a scene and stormed out of the meeting. Why was that no one seemed to believe him. Sure they had been misled before but that didn't mean they shouldn't be prepared. He jumped when the doors suddenly opened and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Sokka and Azula. He had always believed that Azula could bounce back and if someone had to help Sokka would be the guy. Sokka didn't hold grudges, or at least for too long, and always found a way to keep everyone happy and if not, safe.

"Shouldn't you be in a meeting?" Sokka asked Aang, his arms crossed.

"I needed some air."

"She did too so we're going for a walk around town to cool off. Wanna come?"

Aang thought about it. He stood up, dusted himself off and smiled, "I'd love too." Azula rolled her eyes, Aang's 'always happy' attitude often got to her.

The boys' conversation was cut short when the three heard shouting coming from around the gates. Someone was screaming, screaming Sokka's name. The guards were holding her arms and she was kicking, trying get free. Sokka ran towards the commission.

"No!" she tried getting free once more, "I need to speak to him! Please!"

"What's going on here?" Sokka asked one of the guard's.

Zuko, Arnook, Hakoda and Kuei rushed out the palace, they heard the shouting too. Many of the workers began to crowd around the scene too. If attention is what this girl wanted, she definitely had enough of it. She looked at Sokka, her eyes were red and swollen and she was crying. Sokka recognised her immediately, she was the girl from the ship, Chun's granddaughter. Ning was her name.

"Please Sokka, please help me!" she cried.

"What happened?"

"They took him! Please, you have to help me get him back!"

"Who took who?"

"My grandfather, he's been kidnapped by a group of men clothed in black. They followed him home, beat him and took him away. Please help me."

Zuko had just arrived at the scene. He ordered for the guards to release her and they did just that. When they let go of her she fell too her knees, weeping.

"Chun... Why would they take your grandfather? Do you know if he knew the men?" Zuko asked while him and Sokka helped her up.

Ning looked at him, "No, my grandfather rarely left the house after he retired."

"Is there any more information you could give us? Maybe a lead we could follow?"

"Chun was ex-military. Whoever did this probably had something against the Fire Nation," Sokka suggested.

"That could be anyone," Zuko sighed.

"They did tell me something..." The boys attention back on Ning, "They told me to come here to warn you..."

"Warn me?" Zuko was confused but Aang knew exactly what she meant.

"They told me to tell you," Ning coughed and continued, "to tell you that this is just the beginning."

"It's started," Aang looked back at the World Leaders behind him and then at Zuko who stared back in disbelief.

"Is there something I'm missing here?" Sokka asked, confused. "What's starting?"

Zuko turned back to face the World Leaders, completely ignoring Sokka's question. "We need to reinforce our borders, assign guards to patrol the streets," he said. The World Leaders nodded.

"Zuko, you, Sokka and I will go looking for this girl's grandfather."

"It could be a trap."

"I know it's a trap, but we can't just let an innocent man lose his life for something he has nothing to do with." Zuko nodded.

"What's everyone preparing for?" Sokka shouted out.

Aang picked his glider up from the floor and banged it on the ground; it's wing's spread out instantly. "War," Aang said, looking back at the Palace.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six:**

**Practice Makes Perfect**

* * *

"What do you mean war?" Sokka asked. Aang's gaze shifted to Sokka. "Can someone please just tell me what's going here!"

"We're not completely sure either," Aang said, more to himself than to Sokka. "Right now the only thing we need to be focused on is finding..."

"Ning."

"Yes, Ning's grandfather."

"Take her to the physicians and prepare a meal for her. Make sure she's safe," Zuko told one of the guards. His uniform differed to the others, probably because he had a higher ranking. "If you hear or see anything strange send a message through to me immediately."

"What about the princess?" the guard asked.

"I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you," Azula said before pushing her way through the crowd and back to the palace.

Zuko looked to Aang and Sokka. They were definitely not dressed for battle. Aang was in his multilayered traditional attire; the sleeves were so long you could barely see the tips of his fingers. Sokka was still in the robe he had put on that morning and wasn't wearing any shoes. "You too need to get ready, we'll leave after dinner." They both nodded and split up, heading towards their different rooms.

* * *

The atmosphere in the dining hall was miserable. The guard from earlier and Ning had joined the three for dinner. Azula was absent, as usual. The meal tasted bland to Sokka, although Fire Nation food was spicy. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea of another war. He had just come out of one and although he had some fun, he didn't want to go through it again. Sokka noticed that Aang was surprisingly quiet and hadn't touched his meal. He gave him and smile and Aang returned it, although Sokka could see it wasn't genuine. Zuko didn't even have a plate, he sat in silence.

"Not hungry?" Sokka asked. Zuko shook his head.

The more Sokka thought about the situation they were currently in, the more he lost his appetite. Eventually he couldn't eat anymore. His stomach was willing but his mind refused.

"Any idea who these guys are?" Sokka asked Zuko. Zuko, once again, shook his head.

Sokka sighed. He then looked at Aang, "So we don't know anything about these guys and where they might be hiding?"

"We can't just let the man die."

"I didn't say I had anything against your plan. I actually want to do this. It's been years since I've kick some butt."

Both Zuko and Aang grinned. They too couldn't wait to get back in the ring, taking on bad-guys and saving pretty girls... and old men.

"How you doing?" Sokka asked Ning.

"Better."

"That's good," Sokka pushed his plate aside and looked at the other two boys. "We ready to go?"

"Let's go for it," Aang smiled a toothy smile.

The three boys left the dining hall and the palace and walked to the barn on the far side of the garden to get Appa. Aang decided he'd fly ahead on his glider. Sokka decided he'd fly Appa. The boys threw their equipment on Appa's back and climbed on.

"I guess I'll see you guys in the sky," Aang pushed himself from the ground with a burst of air and his glider took straight up into the clouds.

Before they left, Sokka and Zuko checked if they had everything; food (incase they had to camp out); weapons and paper for letters. Zuko pulled out two curved blades from his bag.

"It's been a while since I last saw those," Sokka said.

"Me too."

Zuko had spent his preparation time looking for his dual dao swords in storage.

"Ready when you are," Sokka said, making his way to Appa's head.

"Let's go," Zuko replied.

Zuko and Sokka flew over the mountains, in silence. There was nothing to talk about. Sokka looked back at his passenger; maybe the reason why he was so quiet was because he was asleep. He wasn't though. He was staring down at the swords in his hands. Sokka looked back at the sky ahead, he could see a figure flying ahead, Aang. Flying on Appa brought back many old memories, running away from Zuko, travelling the world. Being alone with Zuko reminded him of their time at The Boiling Rock...

"The last time we've travelled alone together we weren't even friends," Sokka said aloud.

"And now we're close," Zuko chuckled.

Sokka smiled and nodded, "We've come a long way, all of us, since the war." He sighed, "If today doesn't go smoothly we might be in for another."

"Let's just hope it goes smoothly then."

Sokka looked back at the sky, Aang hadn't found anything either, if he had he would've come back to tell them.

"So Azula's out of he room now," Sokka said, still looking into the distance.

"Thanks," Zuko said quietly, Sokka barely heard him.

"I'm proud of you."

Zuko looked at Sokka, who was smiling at him now. "For?"

"Trying to fix things between you and your sister. I know she probably wouldn't admit to anyone but she's happy staying with you."

"She's just happy to be out the facility. She was alone there, she missed having company and that's why she hasn't tried killing me or you."

"That's the reason-"

"Then tell me why she's been spending all this time with you? I don't recall you two ever speaking to each other back during the war so how do you seem so close?"

"We did speak..."

"And I'm guessing it wasn't a pleasant conversation."

Sokka sighed, "I guess not. She did tell me about The Boiling Rock, if it wasn't for that conversation I wouldn't have Suki, or my father, and we wouldn't be friends. "So I think you need to cut her some slack. She's been through a lot, just like you, and we gave you a chance."

Zuko didn't reply but Sokka knew he agreed with him.

"Aang's coming back," Aang's figure was coming closer. His glider folded back together and he landed on Appa's back. He lay down on Appa's back and let out a loud sigh.

"Nothing?" Zuko asked.

"Nothing," Aang repeated. The other two boys sighed too.

"So what happens now? Should I turn Appa around?" Sokka asked Zuko.

"Yeah, maybe we should. We can come back tomorrow when-"

Just then a flaming rock flew past them, Sokka just managed to steer Appa away from it. Two seconds after the first came another, this one nearly hitting the furry giant out of the sky. Many others followed, Appa twisted, twirled and swirled, swiftly avoiding each of them. The last few were different though; all three of them came at the same time, the first completely missing Appa and the other two hitting his tail. Appa was heading straight towards the ground.

"What should I do?" Sokka shouted back to Aang.

"Move!" he screamed back, grabbing the reigns from Sokka's hands. "I'll handle this."

"They spotted us."

"You think?" Zuko said sarcastically.

Aang pulled on the reigns and Appa's head jerked back, slowing his fall down a bit.

"Ok guys, when I say jump you jump."

"Wait wha-"

"JUMP!"

Zuko and Sokka did as they were told and jumped. They were now free falling. Zuko grabbed Sokka's arm and used his flames to slow them down. In the distance they could see Aang still struggling to keep his friend in the air or at least land him safely. The two disappears into the forest while Zuko and Sokka landed in a tree, tangled in its vines. Sokka cut his way out and landed face first in the dirt. Zuko burnt his way through but landed on his feet. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Sokka on the ground, his face in mud.

"Need some help there?" he chuckled.

Zuko heard him mumble something that sounded like "_Go on without me_". He pulled Sokka out of the mud and laughed at his friend's companion's appearance. His face was caked in mud and twigs and leaves tangled in his hair.

"It's not funny," Sokka said bluntly.

"Let's find some water."

"Don't you have some water in your pack?"

"Yeah but it's for important stuff," Zuko said, taking the bottle and sipping from it.

Sokka looked at him in disgust and disappointment. "So cleaning the mud from my face isn't important?"

"They say mud's good for your skin," Zuko said, matter-of-factly.

"Zuko," Sokka whined. "Please!"

"Ssh!"

"Don't shush me!"

"Sokka shut up!" He obliged. "You hear that?"

Sokka could hear voices, and their owners were close.

"I'm sure I saw them land in this area," one said.

"I swear if we walked out into the forest for nothing I'm going to-" Sokka stepped on some dry leaves and the voice stopped.

"Get down," Zuko whispered.

Sokka obliged and the two crawled into a nearby bush. The two other men walked past them, they couldn't see their faces or uniforms. They were thick rubber boots covered in mud that looked worn. They had obviously been up here for quite some time.

"Got a plan, Idea-Guy?" Zuko asked, whispering again.

"These things take time Zuko," Sokka whispered back.

"Time is something we definitely don't have."

"Just let me think."

Sokka pushed a few leaves out of the way making a hole to see through. He could now see their uniforms; they were dark blue with white details. They looked familiar; Sokka could swear he'd seen them before.

"Their uniforms look familiar..."

"Do they look like a threat?"

Sokka examined the two men; they both looked over 60 and sported long white beards. One thin and tall and the other broad and short.

"We can totally take these guys, they look ancient."

"Good, so do you have a plan now?"

Sokka placed his finger on Zuko's lip, silencing him. "I can hear them talking."

"I don't think they're here. Maybe we should just head back to the camp," said the shorter one.

"No, we've been given orders and we'll stick to them," the taller one replied.

"But I'm hungry!" the short one whined.

"You're always hungry, Iroh."

_Iroh?_ Iroh!

"Zuko! That's your uncle! It's Iroh!" Sokka shouted and jumped out the bush.

Zuko sighed loudly and followed Sokka out the bush. "Uncle, you promised you wouldn't mess this up!"

"I'm sorry Zuko," Iroh said, stopping to hear his stomach's call for food.

"Your uncle's been letting himself go again lately," the other man turned around, revealing his face.

"Master Piandao!" Sokka ran and gave his old teacher a hug.

"Sokka, it's good to see you again."

"I could barely recognise you with the white locks," Sokka laughed. Piandao smiled. "What's going on here? Are you guys here to help us rescue Ning's grandfather?"

"They're not," Zuko sighed.

"Chung's been kidnapped?" Iroh asked.

"Uncle," Zuko facepalmed, Chung was never kidnapped. We went through this."

"Wait what?" Sokka was confused.

"This was all just a test."

"A test? My father put you up to this, didn't he?" Sokka groaned.

"This all would've worked if _someone_ hadn't stepped out of character," Zuko said, looking directly at his uncle. He looked at Sokka, "Your father believes you need to start physical training now, apparently you've been slacking recently."

"If this was all just a test why'd you two hit Appa?" Sokka asked Piandao and Iroh.

"I'm sorry, that was my fault," a short man with spiked hair, in the same uniform as the others, stepped out of the shrubbery.

"Jeong Jeong," Sokka grinned. "It's been a while."

"Too long," Jeong Jeong smirked back.

"So Aang knew about this?" Sokka asked Zuko.

"No, he thinks this was real too."

"Has he been slacking too?"

"He's certain a war is on our doorstep but I don't believe it. He's just paranoid."

"We should probably go get him then," Sokka laughed.

"Probably."

Sokka looked back at the three old men and waved, "Good seeing you guys again."

They waved back. Iroh burped and Piandao hit him over the head.

* * *

Aang didn't say a word on the way back to the Palace. He sat steering Appa and when Sokka cracked one of his inside jokes with Aang, he didn't react.

"You shouldn't have told him," Sokka said to Zuko.

"I couldn't lie to him."

"Aang, come on! Say something."

"You guys suck," Aang said.

"_Guys_? I didn't know this was all rehearsed either."

"I swear there's a war coming Zuko," Aang said, completely ignoring Sokka.

"Aang let's not start this now," Zuko groaned.

"Why won't you believe me?" Aang shouted.

"Because I don't want to!" Zuko shouted back.

It was silent for a few seconds then Aang continued. "What do you mean?"

"The last war turned my nation into the mess it is now. War is the reason my father's in prison, the reason why there is no Air Nation. I just didn't want to believe that things like this could happen again."

"It won't if we prepare for it now."

Zuko sighed, "We'll talk back at the palace."

Appa landed softly in front of the stairs leading to the palace's entrance. Aang hopped off his head and helped Zuko and Sokka take things back into the palace. On the way to his room Sokka ran into Ning. He shook his head disappointedly and she smiled back.

"You should be an actress."

She laughed, "I am one already."

"Where?"

"The Ember Island Theatre."

"You're one of the Ember Island Players?" Sokka laughed loudly.

Ning's smiled instantly disappeared and she pushed her way passed him.

"And you say I'm mean?" Azula was standing at his room's door.

Sokka walked into his room and threw his bags on his bed. "Have you _seen_ the Ember Island Players?"

"My mother used to take Zuko and I when we were kids."

Sokka smiled and crawled onto his bed. None of them said anything.

"Can we talk?" Azula asked, breaking the silence.

"Uhm... ok," Sokka sat up and looked at her. "About what?"

"About us."


	7. Chapter Seven

**AN:**** Sorry for the long break and for this chapter's short length. I haven't had enough time for writing these past few days and felt like you guys deserved something so this is what I had done so far. Although this chapter's short, it is extremely important. Thanks :)**

* * *

**Chapter Seven:**

**Unlikely Friends**

* * *

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, his mind struggling to process what he had just heard. Whenever Suki said she needed to talk it didn't end well, for Sokka at least. Months earlier on Kyoshi Island, after one of their talks, Sokka spent four nights sleeping with Appa in a barn. This thought reminded him of the rash he picked up from sleeping on, and in, haystacks. How does Appa sleep in that stuff? Another time he had one of these talks with his sister, he ended up drenched in ice-cold water and most recently he had a talk with his father and ended up here, in the Fire Nation.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sokka had completely drifted off and had forgotten Azula was trying to speak to him. He nodded and she sighed heavily, rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her.

"Keep the door open."

"What for?"

"I want witnesses," he laughed, although he was dead serious.

Azula glared at him and opened the door slightly, "Happy?"

"Yep!"

She sighed heavily and shook her head. She looked at him for a while, he was covered in dirt, leaves tangled into his now messy man-bun and his face caked with mud. "Never-mind, this isn't going to work," she shook her head and opened the door.

"Wait no! Don't go!"

She stopped and turned back at him.

"I'll behave, promise."

"Yeah right. I'm leaving."

"Please Azula," he whined. "What did you want to tell me?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. You can go back to doing whatever you savages do in your spare time?"

"Fine, go. I didn't really care anyway," Sokka waved her goodbye and folded his arms.

"Oh really? You didn't care?" she grinned. "_Please Azula, I'll behave I promise. What did you want to tell me, Azula? Please tell me._"

"I don't sound like a nagging child," he protested.

"Are you sure?" she said, her grin turning into a wicked smile. "You do to me."

"I'm a grown man!"

"I'm sure about the grown part, but I'll give the man part some thought." Her smile widened.

"What do you mean? Look at me, I'm huge!" He flexed his arms, his face winced. His face resembled the one of a child trying lemon for the first time.

Azula looked at the Water Tribe warrior, she had to admit he'd grown a lot since their encounters back during the war. He was much taller and his lanky childlike figure had been replaced by one of a young man. He wasn't "huge" but he was well built, his arms toned, his face thinner and jaw line defined. Dark brown scars were clearly visible on his lighter brown skin. Azula hadn't noticed but her smile had slowly faded away and her mouth was slightly gaped. He looked up at her, his light blue eyes looking back into her own. Her mouth wet dry.

"You cool? You don't look alright?" he asked.

She shook her head and looked away. He laughed and pulled a face, a funny one, mimicking her own.

"I don't look like that?" she shook her head again, as if this would remove the shocked look from her face.

"_Are you sure?_" he retorted in the same way she had earlier.

"Very funny," she said sarcastically.

"So are you staying?"

She sighed.

"Please," he whined again.

"Fine, just stop nagging." She closed the door and moved towards the window. Sokka watched as she looked out, checking if anyone was listening in on them and then closed the window and blinds.

"Whoa, what's going on here?"

"Relax, I'm just making sure my brother isn't lurking around here. This is none of his business."

"What is this _business_?"

"You know I've been seeing someone to deal with..." she paused, "...my issues."

"Yes?"

"Well, I've been given an assignment..."

"What does this assignment have to do with me then?"

"Can you just let me finish before you start asking questions," she was beginning to lose her patience and Sokka could tell so he sat quietly.

"I've been told that I struggle to socialise with others. Apparently I lack sympathy, friendliness, enthusiasm and the ability to be around others. Basically he says I lack a social life."

Sokka nodded in agreement but stopped when Azula glared at him.

"So what do you need to do?"

"Make a friend."

"Make a friend?"

"Yes, make a friend, you idiot. Are you deaf or something?"

"So why'd you come to me? I thought you hated me," Sokka grinned.

"I don't hate you I just strongly detest your very existence," his grin disappeared instantly and hers reappeared.

"You've already failed your task," Sokka shook his head disappointedly.

"What?"

"You said you need to make a friend and I doubt you're going to befriend the avatar or your brother-"

"What makes you think I'd pick you?"

"'Cause I'm awesome and fun to talk to."

"You're fun to make fun of too."

"You're not making things any better here. Friends are supposed to be nice to one another," he patted the spot beside him on the edge of the bed. "Sit down here."

"No thank you."

"Azula, you came here for help so let me try help you. Please."

He patted the bed again and smiled. His teeth showing and his eyes shut. The thought of sitting down with him reminded him of the time she'd woken up on his chest by the pond, his body warm and his arm around her shoulders. Her face went red at the thought of being close to him. She took another look at him, then the bed, then back him.

"I'm not sitting next to you."

"Why not?" he said, slightly offended.

"You're filthy."

Sokka looked down at himself and at his hands. She wasn't wrong.

"Ok, I'll move over a bit more then," he climbed onto the bed and sat with his back against the headboard. "Happy?"

"I'm never happy."

"Happy people are friendly people," he said and winked.

She reluctantly sat on the bed and looked over at him, his smile wide and hands behind his head, "That wasn't that hard now was it?"

"This is terrible."

"You're so funny, Friend," he laughed.

"I change my mind, I actually do hate you... Friend."

* * *

**AN:**** I'll try get the next chapter out soon. It will be much longer than this one. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Until next time...**


	8. Chapter Eight

**AN:**** INCOMING KATAANG. This chapter's the longest one I've written, I owed it to you guys. This was a shorter wait, here it is though: Chapter Eight! (Haha, that rhymed.)**

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**

**Of The Southern Water Tribe**

* * *

Appa, once again, landed in front of the palace entrance, this time carrying two different passengers; Bato, Hakoda's second in charge, and Hahn, the newly appointed Head of Defences of the Northern Water Tribe (and Sokka's least favourite person besides Ozai). The two had seen each other since the Siege of the North years before at a political meeting between the sister tribes. Hahn was still the arrogant "know-it-all" he was back then.

_"How's it feel not being royalty," Sokka bragged. He remembered how keen Hahn was at the idea of marrying Yue, not for love but for all the perks that he'd gain._

_"How's it feel losing your girlfriend," Hahn retorted. Sokka, hurt by the comment, pounced on the other boy. The two were separated by their respective leaders and Sokka was forced to apologise. He didn't though._

This was two years ago though, maybe he had changed.

"You there," Hahn called out to one of Zuko's servants. "Help me down this furry beast," he commanded.

Clearly not.

Aang bowed and held a hand out to Hakoda, "It's good to see you again sir."

"It has been a while," Hakoda bowed back and smiled. "How many times have I told you, you can just call me Hakoda."

"Or pretty soon, Dad," Sokka patted the younger boy on the shoulder. "How are things down in the south," Sokka grinned at his father.

Hakoda, understanding the innuendo, shook his head but smiled, "You have your mother's sense of humour."

"I must of got all of it 'cause Katara has no sense of humour."

"Hey!" Katara cried out, offended. She hopped off Appa's head; she had brought the guests here.

"I didn't see you there," Sokka laughed. He gave his little sister a hug.

"I do have a sense of humour you know," she crossed her arms. "Ask Aang."

Sokka looked to his friend and he nodded, "She jokes around all the time when we're alone."

"I'm pretty sure 'joking around' isn't the only thing you two do when you're alone," Sokka added before being slapped in the face by water.

"You definitely have your mother's sense of humour," Hakoda sighed, his arm around his daughter's shoulders.

Zuko stepped out the palace doors and welcomed his guests into the dining hall where a huge feast awaited them. The table was covered in plates of food from both the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe. Sokka could see some Arctic hen and tentacle soup on the far side of the table and Mochi closer to where he was standing. Azula walked in through a door on the opposite side of the room and Sokka winked at her. She shook her head and sat down next to her brother, Sokka next to his sister.

"Good to see you again Princess Azula," Hakoda said. Azula nodded back and started eating.

Hahn looked at Azula and grinned at her. "Hey there Princess," he said flirtatiously.

"And you are...?" she asked bluntly.

"A nobody," Sokka finished.

Hahn glared at Sokka then looked back at Azula and cleared his throat, "I'm the Head of Defenses of-"

"Ok," Azula interrupted and went back to eating her dumplings. Katara, Aang and Sokka held back their laughter.

A few minutes of silence followed, besides Hahn's loud chewing the only sounds you could hear were Katara and Aang's whispers and giggles.

After dinner, Hakoda, Hahn and Zuko went straight for Zuko's office to discuss the security in the Tribes. Ever since Aang's warnings all the Nations had made security and militarism their top priorities. Aang and Katara went for the market. Sokka stayed in the dining hall and ate his third serving of dessert while Azula finished off her first serving of lunch.

"Do you have to eat like that?"

"Like what?" Sokka said, his mouth stuffed with cake.

"An animal," Azula said, wiping a piece of cake that had come from his mouth from her cheek with a napkin.

"According to you I am one so I'll eat like one," he smiled, food stuck between his teeth.

Azula sighed heavily, "You have something... some_things _between your teeth, Friend."

"Thanks Friend," Sokka said, using his tongue to pick them out.

Azula watched in disgust and paused her meal aside.

"Are you going to finish that?" Sokka pointed at her plate.

"Not anymore, help yourself."

"Thanks Friend."

Azula stayed and watched in half-awe and disgust as her "friend" at away at her food with his bare hands.

"So..." he swallowed, "Any plans for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"So no plans?" he smirked. "Maybe we could take a stroll around town. See what's new."

"I don't take strolls, they're meaningless yet time consuming. Besides, if there was anything new in the Fire Nation, Royalty would be the first to know of it."

"Friends do what other friends would like to do."

"Then _you'll_ do what _I_ want to do which is whatever you don't want to do."

Sokka frowned, not because of her remark but because there was no more food at the table.

"So where are we going then?" he asked.

"I'll go to my room and you can go off and do whatever you do when we don't talk."

"I just woke up, I can't go back to sleep," he sighed. "Besides, Katara's going to be staying in my room tonight because Hahn, Aang and my father are sleeping in the other three rooms.

"The bed in my room's comfortable." Azula covered her mouth with hands but she was too late, the words had already made their way out and she knew he'd heard them because he had that smirk on his face.

"Are you inviting me to come sleep in your bed?" he asked.

"No, I was just... uhm..." her face turned a bright red and he began to laugh.

"_'Uhm?' _Since when does the Princess of the Fire Nation not have anything to say?"

"No, I was not inviting you to sleep in my bed."

"Sure sounded like you were."

"Well you heard wrong then."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't but anyway..." he shrugged. "I'll go sleep in the barn with Appa, I've done it before."

"You _are_ an animal."

Aang and Katara hadn't spent more than a few minutes with each other in what felt like years to them but was actually a few months. When they did see each other there was never enough time to stop and say greet. Today though, Aang had the afternoon off from his duties and so did Katara, leaving them with over four hours to do whatever they pleased. After dinner, they headed for the market.

"Where are we heading?" Katara asked, their hands intertwined.

"Nothing too fancy," Aang looked at her, "but I know you'll love it."

"Do I know this place?"

"I doubt it, I came across it a few days ago when I went wandering around with Sokka."

Aang led Katara through the busy streets of the Capital to a small restaurant on the other side of town.

"The Shady Snack Shack?"

"Jun's Shady Snack Shack," he corrected her.

"How romantic," she sighed.

Aang squeezed her hand, "Don't worry, we won't stay long if you don't want to. There's tons of other things I've got planned for the just the two of us."

"OH SPIRITS, IT'S REALLY HIM! IT'S THE AVATAR!" A large group of both young an old crowded around the two. Everyone had something they wanted to say to Aang, he tried to tell them he had no time but he couldn't go a sentence without being interrupted.

"For just the two of us? I guess plans have changed," Katara laughed.

"Sokka, can you join us for a second," Zuko walked into Sokka's room and was surprised to find his sister there with him. Sokka nodded and the two made their way to Zuko's office.

"Where's Katara?"

"She went off with Aang."

Zuko sighed and stopped. Sokka stopped when he did. "Could you go get for me, you're both needed."

"Needed for what?"

"There's tension between the Water Tribes." Sokka wasn't surprised. "As a part of the WLC and as highly respected water tribe citizens, I need you two to resolve the issue."

"Ok I'll go get her."

"Thanks Sokka."

Sokka nodded and ran back to his room. "Azula!"

"What's the matter?" she shouted back, slightly startled.

"Let's go on an adventure!"

She rolled her eyes and squeezed past him and out the room, "I don't have time for this."

"Zuko wants me, I mean us, to go get Katara for him."

"He can get her himself or get a servant to do it."

Sokka shrugged,"Yeah, he could but I want to do it."

"I don't want to, so you can go on your own."

"We've already done what you wanted to do, which was your nails..."

"What are you getting upset for? You chose to stay and watch."

Sokka smiled, "I've never seen you so focused and quiet before."

Azula opened her bedroom door and looked back at him, "Another time maybe... Friend." She closed the door behind her. Sokka sighed and walked to the palace's doors. The sun was out and hotter than ever. Sokka could feel the skin on his bare shoulders boiling in the heat and the heat from the ground through his shoes. He hadn't tied his hair up in his usual wolf-tail and was beginning to regret it because his hair kept blocking his eyes. He hadn't cut or trimmed his hair since the war and the hair on the sides had grown back.

"Where to Master Sokka?" asked one of the guards at the palace gates.

"It's ok Jia, I'm just going to get my sister," Sokka smiled.

"Are you sure you're okay with going on your own?" the guard, Jia, asked.

"Positive, but thank you anyway."

The market was more crowded than usual, there were performers in the streets and food could be smelt from any direction. Where would Aang take Katara? Sokka thought. He checked a few stalls and had already lost hope. There was no way he was going to find the Avatar in this place. The Avatar! That's it!

"Excuse me sir, have you by any chance seen the Avatar around here today?"

The man looked at Sokka, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Probably. Have you seen the Avatar here?"

"He came through with a girl of the-"

"Southern Water Tribe. When?"

"A few minutes ago. They stopped by the Snack Shack."

"Thank you sir," he bowed and ran in the direction of the restaurant.

Katara laughed loudly, snorting a bit the louder she got. Aang smiled, he didn't realise how much he missed his girlfriend of 3 years now. He remembered the day they made it official like it had happened the day before. She still had the same hairstyle as the years before but her hair was longer now, her ocean blue eyes still made him melt every time they locked eyes and her lips... oh her lips-

"Aang! Katara!" Sokka had just found the table where the young couple were seated. "Sorry to disturb you guys," he said when he'd finally made his way to the table, breathing heavily and sweat running down his nose.

"Can't this wait Sokka?" Katara said. She was clearly annoyed; both the boys could hear it in her voice. We're kinda busy here."

"Zuko needs us both to do him a favour, well, do the Water Tribe a favour and he needs to speak to us about it immediately."

Katara sighed and looked at Aang. He smiled and nodded. Katara looked back at her brother, "Did he say how long he'll be?"

"We didn't talk much about the subject before I left," Sokka said, reaching for a roll on Katara's plate. Katara slapped it out of his hands and shook her head. "You ate more than I've ever seen you eat before today, which is both impressive and disgusting, so you definitely don't need this."

"So we're heading back to the palace?" Aang asked.

"We'll come back as soon as we're done Aang, I promise," Katara squeezed his hand.

"No rush, I'm just glad we got an hour or so together alone for once," he shrugged and kissed her cheek. Sokka had gotten used to their public displays of affection and didn't react; instead, he took the roll off Katara's plate and gobbled it down before she could say anything.

Katara knocked on Zuko's office door. He opened it and invited them in. Iroh was seated alongside Hakoda on a small maroon and black sofa. Iroh offered the two tea and they accepted. They sat down on the chairs in front of Zuko's desk and next to the chair Hahn was seated on.

"Took you a while," Hahn said under his breath, Katara heard him though and rolled her eyes.

Zuko carried the tray of tea his uncle had prepared to his desk and put it down before taking a seat. Katara blew on hers to cool it down and took a sip, Sokka decided he'd just wait for it to cool down. The Boulder once burnt his tongue drinking hot tea and couldn't talk for weeks, Sokka wasn't going to take any chances. Zuko cleared his throat and Sokka's mind came back into focus.

"Sorry I had to take you from Aang," he said to Katara. Katara nodded and proceeded. "There's conflict between the two Water Tribes over their defense force and war strategies. The South feels the Water Tribes should remain defensive and make sure they're people are safe from harm before beginning to prepare for any form of attack."

"And we in The North believe we should work on training our men, making sure they're ready for combat before reinforcing our already well built wall," Hahn added.

"I don't see the problem, one nation can train warriors while the other builds," Sokka suggested.

"Oh, this is not the issue," Zuko said. "The problem is-"

"-the people of the South feel they'd be safer in the North because our rebuilding and upgrades from the war have already been completed but unfortunately this isn't a popular idea in the North. There's not enough food, space and resources for both tribes to be living together as one. Let alone our head families don't even get along," Hahn interrupted.

"So you need us to come up with a solution for this problem I'm assuming?" Katara asked Zuko.

"If it isn't a problem with you two, I'd like you to go to the North and South later on today."

"I've got plans with Aang for later."

"I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to come with you," Sokka said to his sister.

"I guess he would..."

"So it's settled," Hakoda stood up from his seat, "We'll leave tonight."

They all left the office, Sokka left to his room to pack his belongings, Katara to go let Aang in on what was happening and Zuko to his guards to assist them with preparations for the departure. Sokka finished putting his space sword in its punch and into his bag. He dropped on the floor at the palace doors and walked back to his room. He walked passed Azula's bedroom door and stopped. Maybe I should say bye, he thought. He knocked but she didn't answer. He tried once more and still there was no reply. He slowly opened the door; she was in bed probably asleep.

"Azula..." he said quietly. She moved slightly and he called her name again, "Azula...?"

"Go away!" she cried back, throwing the blankets onto the floor as she did. Her sheets were torn and pillow as well.

"Azula, is everything okay?"

"Does everything or anything here look okay to you?" she shouted throwing her arms in the air.

He looked around the room and saw that most of the furniture was either destroyed or burnt. Her eyes were blood red and swollen and her makeup was running down her face.

"Azula, I'm sorry..."

"Just leave! I don't care anymore," she banged on her bed wit her fists and Sokka took a few steps back.

Soon footsteps could be heard from the other end of the corridor and a group of nurses pushed Sokka aside and went straight for Azula. They tried to clam her down but she started screaming louder than before. The four of them lifted Azula up and tried their best to carry her. She kicked and turned, sometimes she'd blow fire out her mouth while screaming. Sokka moved out of their way and watched them disappear into the other side of the castle. Sokka looked back at the bed, there was a sheet of paper lying on her bed. He hesitated but reached for it. It was addressed from her mother... from 10 years earlier. He didn't have any time to read it because he heard someone enter the room. Instead he folded it up and slid it into his pocket.

"I was just looking for something," he said to the maid. She didn't say anything and Sokka left. When he was out of the room and anyone's sight he took the letter out of his pocket.

_"My dearest Azula...,"_

**AN:**** Hope you enjoyed this chapter 'cause I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, until next time...**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine:**

_**The South, Part One:**_

**Home Again**

* * *

"A letter from her mother?" Sokka asked himself, unaware that he had said it out loud.

"What was that?" Jia, the guard from earlier, asked.

"Nothing," Sokka slipped the page back into his pocket and faked a smile. Jia looked at him suspiciously but shrugged it off.

"All packed and ready to leave?" Hakoda asked Sokka, carrying Katara's luggage. "We're not sure when you'll be able to come back so don't leave anything you might need behind."

"I'm packed," Sokka replied bluntly.

Hakoda dropped the bags on the floor, stretched out his back wand groaned, "Your sister packed enough clothes to give a full wardrobe to he everyone Earth Kingdom. Well, at least that's how it feels." Hakoda laughed but Sokka didn't. His father noticed. "Is everything okay Sokka?"

"Fine," Sokka lied.

Hakoda looked at him and shook his head, "Sokka, I've known you for 19 years now, nearly 20 actually, I can tell when you're not being honest with me."

"I'm fine dad," Sokka said.

"If you say so," Hakoda placed his hand on Sokka's shoulder. "If you ever need to talk about anything I'm always willing to listen, you hear me?" Sokka nodded and his father smiled.

"Dad..."

"Son?"

"I don't want to go back home."

"Why not?" Hakoda turned to face his son.

"I haven't written to Suki for more than a week, she's going to kill me."

Hakoda laughed loudly, one hand on his stomach, "She'll get over it, don't worry. You'll probably have enough time to make up for your absence."

"Wait, so we're going to be in the South for 3 months?" Sokka asked.

"And the North. That's just an assumption though, if things go our way we should be done in a few weeks or maybe even days."

Sokka nodded slowly then grinned, "With Hahn around we'll probably spend the whole summer trying to get things back in order."

"Hey! I can hear you you know," Hahn cried out, walking towards them with his bags.

"Good so I won't have to repeat myself then," Sokka shouted back.

"Enough Sokka," Hakoda interrupted, "If we're going to do this quickly you'll have to learn to get along with him." Hakoda looked over at Hahn now, "The same applies to you too."

"Whatever, as long as you stay out of my way we'll have no issue," Hahn said, poking Sokka's chest with his finger.

Sokka looked over to his father once Hahn had left them, "These few months are going to be the longest of my life."

"Wait till you have children," Hakoda laughed.

Sokka laughed too but stopped as soon as he realised the joke was on him, "HEY!"

The docks were quiet; the only ships there were those that belonged to Fire Nation Royalty. Several servants and guards help load the ship and its kitchen crew had just arrived from restocking with fresh ingredients. The ship was far different from the one Sokka was on when he arrived here in the Fire Nation, this one was much bigger and the furniture was more elegant and expensive looking. He was directed to his chamber by one of the servants. This room was the same size, if not bigger, than the one he slept in at the palace. It also came with it's own bathroom and closet space the size of his hut back at home.

"I could get used to this," Sokka said, his mouth open wide as his eyes scanned the room.

"It's a 2 day trip," the servant stated.

Sokka threw his bags in the closet and himself on the bed. His body sunk in and he smiled, "Then I don't want these next 48 hours to end."

"Is there anything I can get for you, Master Sokka?"

"A glass of your finest drinks," he said, in a pompous voice.

"Virgin or alcoholic, sir?"

"Surprise me!" Sokka cried out, his hands waving in the air.

The servant bowed, "Very well sir, I'll be back shortly."

"Take your time."

Sokka didn't realise how excited he actually was to go back home, see his neighbours, friends and girlfriend. These thoughts instantly put a smile on his face. He smelt himself and decided it was time he took a bath, a long relaxing bath. He ran the water and rushed to the closet where he found a packet of rose petals and bubble bath. As he sunk into the tub he sighed, "I definitely needed this."

The servant from earlier placed a tray of fruit and a bright pink drink on his bedside table and when he left Sokka brought it to the bathroom. He got back in the tub and took a grape from a bowl on the tray. While sipping from his drink he saw the letter amongst his clothes on the tile floor. He thought about taking it and reading it but he was in a really good mood and didn't want to ruin it. He then wondered how Azula was doing. Probably fine now.

An hour or so later Sokka joined his sister who was on the ship's decks looking over at the horizon also with a drink in her hand. She saw him come but didn't say anything. Sokka sat down on a lounge chair, "To think if it wasn't for the war we wouldn't be here."

Katara smiled, "To think if it wasn't for the war we wouldn't have found Aang."

"He would've been dead. How old is he again?"

"Sixteen."

"No, his _real_ age."

Katara sighed, "One hundred and sixteen."

Sokka laughed, "That's it."

"We wouldn't have met Suki or Yue," Katara turned around to face the boat.

"She would still have been alive though," Sokka said, "and not the Moon Spirit."

"Well at least now she'll live forever."

"She would've been married to Hahn," Sokka sighed heavily at the thought.

"I guess in a bid to unite the Tribes you two could've married," Katara shrugged and took a sip from her drink.

Sokka blushed, "I guess so..."

"So how are we doing this?"

"What?"

"How are we going to get the Tribes to stop bickering and unite? Any ideas?"

"To be honest I was kinda hoping you had a few ideas," Sokka sat up and scratched the back of his head. "Maybe dad has come up with something or Aang."

"Aang's got other things to worry about."

"Like uniting the world, keeping peace and you? This problem involves all he ever worries about!"

Katara laughed and sipped from her drink.

They could see Aang walking towards them, a basket in his hand and a fishing rod in the other. Katara sighed heavily and Sokka laughed loudly. Aang smirked and sat a chair near to the ship's railing with his equipment.

"Aang, we discussed this..."

"Come on, when was the last time we went fishing?" Aang said. "Since the war."

"The more I think about it the more I realise how much fun we actually had back then," Sokka said. "I guess every cloud has a silver lining."

"So you'd do it all again?" Katara asked him.

"With all our new friends and allies I wouldn't mind," Sokka shrugged. "The only problem is the silver lining the cloud belongs to which is... well... war. I wouldn't want to lose anyone again to it, like Jet or even mom."

Katara's eyes watered at the thought of their mother. She rubbed them and gulped down the rest of her drink.

"Someone was thirsty," Aang laughed.

"_Someone's_ had a long week," Katara said back.

"So I'm assuming that was alcoholic then?" Sokka added.

Katara grinned and sat down on the lounge chair beside Sokka's. The three of them sat in silence for a while before they were called in for dinner.

"Thank the spirits, I'm starving!" Sokka screamed out to the sky.

"When I are you never," Katara rolled her eyes.

Hahn, to everyone else's delight, didn't join them for dinner. Sokka was the first to finish, he said his goodnights and headed for his room. A neatly folded gown and pair of sandals was sitting on his bed. Sokka looked and them for a while and decided it would be pointless to change if he wasn't planning on leaving his room tonight. He put the clothes aside and climbed into bed, wrapping himself in a blanket cocoon. He slowly drifted off as he listened to the sea, the waves crashing against the ship's side and the rain pouring on its decks.

_"Go away! Does everything or anything here look okay to you?"_

_"Azula, I'm sorry..."_

_"Just leave! I don't care anymore."_

Lightning struck the sea and Sokka woke up to its roar. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. "Storms," Sokka muttered aloud.

"I know right?" a voice said.

Sokka jumped when he heard it and reached for his sword, which was lying on the side table next to him. He looked to his side and saw it was Katara. "Oh..." he said with a sigh of relief. "What are you doing in here?"

"You were screaming and shouting in your sleep," Katara said. "Everyone on the ship could hear you so I came to check if you were alright."

"I'm fine."

Katara looked at the sword in his hands, his grip on it was still tight, "You sure?"

"Positive," Sokka nodded.

Katara sighed heavily, "Dad's worried about you. He says you've been acting stranger than usual." She took the sword from his hands and put it away. "I'm worried too."

"Why? I'm perfectly fine."

"Sokka..."

Sokka rolled his eyes, "What?"

"You were calling for Azula in your sleep."

Sokka's heart stopped, his eyes widened and his mouth went dry.

"Did she hurt you back in the Fire Nation?"

Sokka shook his head.

"Then what happened?"

Sokka sighed and looked at his sister, "I hurt her."

"_You_ hurt her?"

"It's complicated, I don't even know how but I know I did."

The Southern Water Tribe had changed significantly since Sokka's departure. There were many new buildings and stores, most of them unused. Even the Chief's Office had been renovated; it was now the biggest building in the tribe with a stair case leading into it almost like the one back in the Fire Nation.

"Everything's just like the designs," Sokka said.

His father smiled and put his arm around his shoulders, "I'm glad you like it."

"This is cute compared to the buildings in The Northern Water Tribe," Hahn said. Sokka winced as he tried to keep his sarcastic comment to himself. The two had to learn to get a long if this was going to work out.

A young man, just a few years older than Sokka, showed them to the new offices and meeting hall. Sokka was proud of all the reconstruction that had been done while he was away. They were seated at the long table in the centre of the hall, Hakoda at its head and Sokka and Katara on his sides.

"The Northern authority will be here shortly," Hakoda said. "Anything you'd like to tell me before they arrive?"

"I have a few ideas but I'll wait for their arrival," Katara replied and Hakoda nodded.

Minutes later, Chief Arnook and his wife arrived and sat on the other side of the table with Hahn. "Hakoda," Arnook smiled as he bowed before taking his seat, "It's good to see you again. Hopefully we can get as many points and key ideas in these few minutes as possible."

Hakoda smiled back, "Then let's get straight into it then." Hakoda looked to his left at his daughter, "Katara, would you like to start?"

"Yes please, thank you," Katara stood up and bowed for their guests. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well," Arnook's wife beamed, "It feels like ages since I last saw you all."

"Can we just start already," Hahn interrupted, yawning loudly.

Katara cleared her throat and began; "I know that both of you, as leaders of your nation, don't want to frighten your citizens, especially if what they fear might not even come to be. A war, for example. Your preparations and training have been sidelined or deemed not urgent because you don't wish to alarm them. Those who would like to know what's happening or rebelling demanding to know the truth." Both Hakoda and Arnook nodded.

"Strikes and riots have began in the North, luckily for us we were able to get it under control."

"No," Katara resumed, "I think the people deserve to know that there could be something coming. They should know to be alert and ready for anything. Keeping it from them is just making them upset. When the time comes, even if it's in another hundred years, for another war they'll be unresponsive or slow due to the lack of experience and training they've received."

"So you want us to tell the people about a war that probably isn't going to happen? That's pointless," Hahn said.

"Not about this exact war but war in general, they should be prepared for anything at all times."

"We will schedule a speech for as soon as possible," Hakoda said. "We'll base the rest of our decisions on their reaction."

"We'll meet again before the speech, hopefully we'll have more time then we did today," Arnook stood up from his seat and bowed. "Until next time, keep safe."

Everyone except Sokka and Katara left the meeting hall. Katara stayed to write down a few ideas she thought of during the meeting that she'd discuss at the next meeting. Sokka hadn't said anything during the meeting but he listened, for once. After a few minutes of watching Katara scribble on a piece of paper Sokka left and wandered the streets. The food courts smelt of seaweed and fish. Sokka ordered himself dumplings and ate them as he walked. After walking for a while he found his way home. He opened the door and was surprised to find it empty. Suki obviously went back to Kyoshi Island for work. Hadn't she recieved his recent letters telling her that he's coming-

"You're late."

Never mind, Sokka thought to himself. That voice belonged to the person Sokka had just been thinking of. They had kept in contact these past few months but he missed hearing her speak. She emerged from her room, barefoot and in his clothes.

"You're not wearing my clothes, they're wearing you," Sokka laughed.

"I can't believe I missed you," Suki rolled her eyes.

"I've been getting that a lot recently," Sokka smiled his goofy smile and gave his girlfriend a hug.

They stood in silence, Suki in his arms, for a few minutes before she finally pulled away. "You smell terrible," she pinched her nose with her fingers.

"I smell like home," he laughed.

"You smell like fish and penguin eggs."

Sokka smirked, "I'm pretty sure that's what I just said." He took his heavy jacket off and threw it on the ground. "So what have you been up to here alone?"

"I arrived late last night so not much," Suki picked the jacket up and hung it on the rack by the front door. "Don't think I've forgiven you though."

"For what?" Sokka recalled everything he'd just said to her trying to figure out what he'd said that he shouldn't have.

"Leaving me here."

"Suki..."

"I don't get why you couldn't have just told me," Sokka moved closer to her as her voice began to fade, "I understand you had no choice but-"

She stopped when his lips were touching hers. Sokka put his hands on her waist and pulled her body closer to his own, "Suki, it'll never happen again. I promise."

"You better not break this one," she said, her finger poking his chest.

"I'll try my best," he said with a grin. Suki smiled and the pair kissed once more.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Nine:**

_**The South, Part Two:**_

**Crazy Eye Moe**

* * *

Sokka awoke to the smell of home cooked breakfast. There was definitely a difference between the food Sokka ate back in the Fire Nation Palace and the food he ate here at home. The food at home was made with love, and you could taste it. Sokka groaned loudly as he stretched his limbs. He forced his stiff body out of bed and into the kitchen, led by the smell of fresh eggs and Komodo sausage being fried.

"Where'd you manage to find these ingredients in the Southern Water Tribe?" he laughed and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"I didn't, I brought them along with me when I came here," Suki replied. Her hair was in a messy bun and her face had no makeup.

"It's a good thing you did because although I hate to admit it; I hate Water Tribe cuisine."

"What?" Suki looked at him with disbelief, "I thought Water Tribe food was your favourite."

"I thought so too but I guess a couple months in the Fire Nation can change a guy," he shrugged and she laughed.

Sokka sat himself on one of the kitchen counters and watched his girlfriend cook. She blushed when she noticed he had been staring into her eyes for several minutes straight.

"I missed you," he smiled.

"I would too," she grinned. She dipped her finger in some sauce and drew a heart on Sokka's forehead.

"I hope you didn't draw a penis on my forehead."

She laughed loudly, "No, why would I do that?"

"Don't act like you're 'Little Miss Innocent', I know you have a sick sense of humour. Besides, I would've done that."

She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, "Don't piss off the chef Sokka?"

"Why not? It's quite fun," he winked at her.

Just then one of the tribe's warriors, clad in dark blue armour and face paint, stormed in. He was panting heavily, he obviously had to run a long distance to get here. Sokka didn't recognise the man although being a warrior himself. He was probably a new recruit who joined after I left, he thought to himself. When the man had finally caught his breath he excuse himself and began.

"Sokka, your father has requested to speak with you," he said.

Sokka looked over at Suki and sighed, "Is it important?"

The warrior nodded.

Sokka looked back at Suki and at the food she was preparing for the two of them, "I'll be back as soon as possible."

She smiled, "I won't start without you."

His father's house was the largest in the whole tribe, which made sense because he was its leader. Sokka still remembered the little hut he shared with his father, sister and mother that stood where this new place stood. The only similarity between the two was the thatched roof. He invited himself in and took a moment to take it all in. He had never set foot in his father's house before, being here brought back painful memories Sokka didn't like to recall.

Sokka entered the lounge where Hakoda and Katara were sitting. Katara didn't have her own house so she stayed here with their father. There was definitely enough room for her, this house had just as many rooms as the palace in the Fire Nation, only smaller.

"Have you prepared a few words for the speech?" Hakoda said.

"Morning to you too," Sokka sat down on the chair closest to the door, he wasn't planning on staying. "No I have not, I thought we were still waiting for confirmation of a date."

"We've settled on tomorrow evening," Katara said.

"Tomorrow's Lunar Day, a day of celebration, joy and happiness, we can't give such depressing news out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's the best time to tell the people, the whole tribe's going to be in one place."

Sokka shook his head, "Whatever, I just don't think telling the citizens that there's an incoming war on such a day is very appropriate." Sokka stood up from his seat, "But anyway it's not my choice now is it, I guess I'll see you both tomorrow evening."

"Sokka please be reasonable," Hakoda sighed.

"Me? Unreasonable? You never tell me anything, you just send me out there to do your chores! All I ever want an explanation or a reason, most of the time a choice. You think I wanted to be shipped off to the Fire Nation? You think I wanted to leave Suki behind?"

"Sokka, please-"

"No Katara, no. I'm leaving now, if either of you have anything to tell me keep it to yourselves, just like everything else."

Sokka slammed the front door behind him. Although he hated to admit it, him and his father had grown quite apart recently. They disagreed and argued all the time and, majority of the time, struggled to find some common ground. It had all started the year before at the second Annual World Leaders' Conference, a conference set up by Aang and Zuko to discuss the current affairs, reconstruction and redevelopment of the four nations. Sokka didn't really remember what they fought about but he did know that that's when things started going South between him and Hakoda.

The city were abuzz, the streets were packed with people setting up their stalls and decorations for the next day's festivities. Bright blue and white ribbons hung from streetlights and banners from ceilings. Sokka stopped at his favourite store, a candy store, to pick up something for Suki. She had probably already finished her breakfast and put his aside for when he arrives.

Many people where were in the shop buying last minute treats for their families. Sokka was scanning one of the lower shelves when a young boy and his sister approached him. The boy looked around 4 years old, his face was sticky with pieces of cake on his cheeks. His sister's face wasn't covered in food like her brothers; she was holding a lollipop and looked about 7.

"Hello Mr Sokka sir," the boy shouted.

Sokka laughed and greeted back, "Are you two excited for Lunar Day tomorrow?"

"I haven't been able to sleep for the past three days," his sister exclaimed. "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am! Who wouldn't be?" Sokka said, watching disgustedly as the boy indulged in another slice of cake. "Is your father around?"

The girl pointed to a tall, thin man with a wolf-tail holding a few full bags, on the other side of the shop. "He's over there. Should I go call him for you?"

"It's okay Nuan, just tell him I said hi, will you?"

"Ok, see you tomorrow then!"

The two children made their way back to their father and Sokka decided on a few brownies for Suki. As the baker put his brownies in a bag for him, Sokka's eyes stumbled on a sweet he hadn't seen since the Fire Nation. He'd seen sweets from other nations here but not these. He actually didn't even know they existed until a few weeks before.

Fire Gummies.

_"Fire-whats?"_

_"Fire Gummies, you idiot. Are all peasants as deaf as you are?"_

_"You know my name! Why do you call me all these names?" he cried._

_"What names," she smirked. "Oh you mean peasant, savage-"_

_"Yes, enough already, those names."_

_Sokka watched as she ate, her eyes focused and her hands steady. One by one, she ate the gummies. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the silence was broken._

_"Are you just going to watch me eat?" she said, not looking up at him. "I'm sure you're used to it though."_

_"We have food in the Southern Water Tribe," he exclaimed. She got to his nerves but when Zuko was working she was the only other person to talk to._

_"You call seaweed and onions food?"_

_"Yes, and it's delicious."_

_She shook her head slowly, "Clearly you've never had truly good food before." She slid the packet of treats across to him. "Have a Fire Gummy."_

_He looked at the packet for a while and back at her, "Are these poisoned or something?"_

_"No, just eat one before I change my mind."_

_Sokka reluctantly took a gummy from the packet and slowly placed it on his tongue. One became three, three became ten. Sokka had never eaten something so good before, and if he had he'd forgotten completely about it now. She laughed as he chowed down on her sweets. Sokka had never heard her laugh before and he wish he could hear it again. Sokka couldn't help but stare at her while she did so._

_"You should laugh more often," he said._

_She smiled, "Then we should do this more often."_

Sokka thoughts were interrupted by the baker telling him his brownies were ready to go. Sokka paid and thanked the an and set off on his way back home.

When Sokka arrived back he was surprised to find Suki sitting at the dining table. She wasn't eating though, Sokka had seen her plate in the kitchen when he went to get his own.

"You waited for me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, I came here because it's the warmest room in this place."

Sokka sat down on the seat next to hers and started eating. She was organising paperwork; the whole table was covered in scrolls. One of them looks like a contract. Sokka remembered Suki speaking about building a new studio in Ba Sing Se, where there was a larger market.

"So I'm guessing you bought the new studio," Sokka said, his mouth full.

Suki sighed, "Not really, the studio doesn't exist yet."

"What do you mean?" He stopped chewing.

"I bought land now it has to be built. Until it's done we'll be renting space from Toph's training facility."

"Unlucky," Sokka laughed. "You think she's still teaching there?"

"I doubt it, I don't think she reopened the studio this year. I wouldn't have, last year was a pretty slow year for her."

"Because of the fall out she had with her parents?"

Suki shrugged and reached for her satchel. She took out a few more scrolls and packed a few away.

"Anyway, what did you and your father talk about?"

"He wants me to prepare a speech for tomorrow. We're going to enhance our militarism, defense and stuff like that to prepare for war."

"War?"

"I honestly think Aang's a little paranoid. He overheard a couple people in town talking about starting a rebellion now he's telling us to prepare for war. I do think we need to up our defense but not because of an incoming war that could never come. You get me?"

"I understand."

Sokka took his last bite and wiped his lips with a serviette, "Thanks for breakfast by the way, it was amazing."

After breakfast, Sokka headed for the hills near his home. He needed privacy and silence if he was going to write a piece for this speech. There was one specific hill Sokka enjoyed because of it's view but he stopped going there because a crazy homeless guy moved his whole family (All 32 of them) up there. So today Sokka was going to climb every one to find it's replacement. It was still morning so Sokka had the time.

After a few hours Sokka was exhausted. He'd only managed to hike up one of them before giving up. The one he'd hiked was home to a few carnivorous wolves and Sokka knew trespassing would be suicide. He decided he'd just go back to his old hill and find a place far from the crazy guy's residence to write.

Another thing Sokka liked about this hill is that it was the only place with green grass and coloured vegetation in the whole South. It was almost as if Sokka was in a completely different nation when he came here. He used to come up here all the time when he was a child but stopped after his mother was taken away. A few months after that he started coming back, looking to escape but then stopped again when his father left for war. This hilltop was the main reason why he built his house so far out of the tribe and away from the Chief's, unlike past "heirs".

Sokka walked around, reminiscing and smiling on his own at the memories of this place before his thoughts were interrupted.

"Ayy you!"

Sokka jumped and turned around. The scrawny man who had called him was holding a makeshift bow and wore a straw hat on his balding head. The parts of his that weren't covered in dirt looked deformed and his right eye was a red and puffy.

"Wot you doin' on me land?"

"I'm sorry Crazy Eye Moe, I was just... uhm... looking for my baby sister. She wandered off and I was sent to look for her," Sokka lied.

Moe squinted his good eye and slowly walked around Sokka, looking him up and down. "Well you ain't gon' find 'er here. You ain't gon' find nobody here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there ain't nobody here!" Moe cried out, throwing his bow in the air.

Sokka watched in the bow disappear into the cloud and took a few steps back, "Where's your family?"

Moe shrugged, "Spirits know's where. They were taken."

"Taken?"

"It's a long story, boy. Come on in and I'll tell ya all about it."

Moe lead Sokka to his little hut, there were several huts around it but they'd all started to decay and collapse. Moe's hut was probably the warmest place in the whole tribe, definitely warmer than Sokka's dining room. His walls were covered in animal pelts and heads. A fire was burning at his fireplace.

"Cocoa?" Moe asked him.

Sokka, not wanting to be rude, said yes and Moe disappeared into what he called a kitchen. Sokka took a seat at the table and continued looking around the hut. There was a picture of a family on the wall, they were well dressed and the man wore a monocle on his right eye. The woman standing beside him had a pretty face and was pregnant too. In the centre of the picture between the man and the woman stood a little boy, his hair in a neat bun.

"Here's ya cocoa boy." Moe handed Sokka an tin can and sat down opposite him.

"So you were telling me about your family..." Sokka said and took a sip of hot cocoa.

"Oh yeah! Me and me boy came back from a fishin' trip te'find our family bein' shoved in these funny lookin' carriages."

"Funny looking carriage?"

"They looked like metal but me and me boy were too far te'see. I went up te'one of the big guys in grey and tol' him te'let me family go. He spat on me shoe. I tol' him once more and he pushed me back. Me son tried te'fight back but those men were strong. "

"Why would someone kidnap your family?" Sokka asked.

Moe shrugged, "The big men didn't talk much. They did say they'd be back, maybe you can ask."

"How will I know it's the same guys if I see one of them?"

"The carriage's had this lil' drawin' on em," Moe took a sharp needle and carved a symbol into the table. It resembled that of the White Lotus but with a tiger in its centre. "I don' know when they'll be back, that's why I built Mary."

"Mary?"

"Me bow."

"You threw her away, I don't think Mary's coming back."

"Oh well, she ain't no good anyway."

"Wait... so his family was kidnapped?"

"Yes, they were kidnapped," Sokka said, pacing back in forth.

"By the White Lotus?"

"No, by people who's emblem looks like the White Lotus' one."

"I'm lost."

"Where'd you lose me?"

"Right at the beginning."

"C'mon Suki," Sokka groaned. "It's not that hard to understand."

"Maybe I'd understand if you would just slow down," Suki shrugged.

Aang and Katara barged in, Aang staff in hand and in a fighting stance, "Where's the emergency?"

"Good, you guys are here."

Suki shook her slowly and turned to the new arrivals, "I think Sokka's gone crazy. Makes sense 'cause he did spend the whole day with some guy named Crazy Eye Moe."

"You spoke to Crazy Eye Moe?" Katara was shocked. "No one talks to Moe."

"He needs our help, Katara," Sokka cried.

"I agree he needs help but not ours. There are trained professionals we can pay to help him though."

Sokka winced in annoyance. He picked up a piece of paper up from the table and faced it to them, "I don't think those professionals can deal with these guys."

Aang dropped both his fighting stance and his bo-staff. Katara and Suki didn't react and continued to tease Sokka. Aang had seen this emblem before; in those same towns he'd heard news of a rebellion. The emblem he saw didn't have a tiger in its centre though but instead was written in red on an alley wall.

"That's the White Lotus symbol, you idiot," Katara shook her head.

"No its not," Aang said, more to himself than to his girlfriend. "That lady from that town who knew of a rebellion called this something else."

"Aang, not this again," sighed Katara.

"Get dad Katara, tell him my speech is ready," Sokka said. "And tell him to close all ports, no one's leaving the South until we find Moe's family and their captors."


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven:**

_**The South, Part Three:**_

**Lunar Day**

* * *

Lunar Day; the happiest day in the South. Even those who rarely had a good time, mostly the warriors and builders, were out and about and having a blast. There were more decorations up and lights on every surface. Most stores were closed but there were several stores to buy refreshments from. Today was a day to spend with family and friends, which is exactly what Sokka did, just not in the way he thought it would be. Hakoda had sent out his stealthiest and most skilled warriors on a search for Moe's family and their captors.

_"We don't want to ruin tomorrow by having our warriors march in town and search their homes," Hakoda had said to the teens the day before. "Sokka, call in the rest of the warriors and tell them it's urgent. We'll quietly scan the tribe, hopefully we'll avoid a violent confrontation this way."_

Sokka, Aang, Katara and Suki were trying their best to blend in and help look for anything suspicious but, being as famous as they were, they were impossible to ignore. The Water Tribe siblings usually could control the crowds that approached them but because the Kyoshi Warriors' leader and the Avatar were around the crowds were much bigger.

"Avatar Aang? Holy Spirits! It's really you," one fangirl cried out, "Please sign my face!"

"Have my babies Suki!" cried another.

"This sucks," Suki sighed heavily. "I'm honestly not in the mood for this."

"Just remember," Sokka said, "We're doing this for Moe."

"Like that makes this situation any better," she muttered under her breath. "I swear, if we find out that hobo was lying about all this I'll-"

"Sokka! Katara! Over here!" a man's voice called out over the crowd.

Sokka looked to his right and saw the two children he had seen the day before in the candy store. They were standing next to their father. Sokka smiled, "I think I just found our way out of this crowd. Follow me." The teens, lead by Sokka, made their way to the small family. It took a few minutes to get through the crowd, people kept tugging and pulling on their clothing but eventually they made their way into the little alleyway Nuan, her brother and father were in.

"Thanks Bato," Sokka said, panting. "I don't know how long we would've been there."

"They're out there looking for us so we need to find these Lotus guys and leave," Katara was also still recovering from their escape. "It's good to see you again though Bato, and the Nuan &amp; Ju-Long."

"Hello Katara," they both said simultaneously.

"Aren't you two just adorable," Suki picked Ju-Long up and pinched his cheeks. "It feels like forever since I last saw you guys."

Bato smiled, "You guys could take a breather over at my place, your father called me in so I'll meet you all later."

Aang bowed, "Thank you Bato, we'll see you later then."

Sokka sighed heavily; the four of them had been trying to figure out where the kidnappers could be hiding. Sokka had pitched in in the new designs for the tribe before reconstruction as so knew the whole tribe's layout and yet he still couldn't think of a good place to hide a whole family, from cousins to stepsiblings.

"I could fly over the tribe on my glider," Aang suggested. "I'll get a better view of everything from above."

"They could shoot you down, so fly high," Sokka said. He studied his hand drawn map very closely. "Suki, you can search this area," he poked the page, "It's a possibility they could be hiding here."

"What about me?" Katara asked.

"I guess you could go with Suki," he said, chewing on the back of his brush.

Suki looked at the map, "So where are you going then?"

"I've got a place in mind, its not on here though, its far out the tribe."

"Why can't we come with you? If you do find them you'd be to far to call us for back-up," Aang said.

"Travelling in a group makes our 'Element of Surprise' more predictable. I'll come back if I see anything fishy." He looked up to see Suki looking back at him, he could see the worry in her eye. It had been a while since he'd had to fight or even defend himself from any serous danger like this. He smiled at her, "I promise."

Bato entered the room, a satchel over his shoulder and a boomerang in his hand. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No it's ok, who are we to tell you where you can and cannot be in your own home," Aang laughed. "We're actually done in here so if you need space we could leave."

"No no, don't worry. I'm heading back to the Hakoda's house. From there we'll head to the barracks and prepare." He dropped the satchel and from it he pulled out a couple scrolls and weaponry. "It's been ages since I last saw these," Bato said, more to himself than the teens.

"What are they?" Sokka asked.

"The scrolls contain war tactics the tribe used to use centuries ago and these weapons were used back then too. The last time I saw these I was around your age, maybe a bit younger," he smiled. "I was with your father actually, we had just finished training and the Chief, your grandfather, sat us down and told us everything he'd be told about them." After closely examining the documents for any tears and checking if the weaponry was still in good condition, Bato put them back into the satchel. "Your father told me to keep them safe for now."

Sokka smiled, "They're in good hands."

"That is true," Bato laughed. He stood up and dusted his pants off. "I'll see you four later then." Bato closed the door behind him.

"Well, let's not waste any more time sitting around," Katara stood up from her seat.

Sokka nodded, "Katara's right, we should get a move on."

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Suki asked. "I could come too if you-"

"I'll be fine Suki," Sokka hugged her tightly. "We'll meet back at Bato's in a few hours."

Aang pulled his glider out from the pouch he kept it in on his back. "No one take any action until we've all spoken about it." The others nodded in agreement and, after leaving the house, parted ways.

The snow became deeper the further he walked and lifting his feet out the snow became a mission of its own. Sokka turned back and couldn't see the tribe anymore, he'd clearly come a long way. Just as Sokka stopped to take a break it began to snow. He pulled his extra sweater out from his bag and put it on. He walked and walked until eventually his legs gave up on him. This is useless, he thought to himself. He sat down and put his thick, padded gloves on. After a short break he got up and decided to make his way back to the tribe but stopped when he saw something strange in the sky.

"Smoke," he said, a bit too excitedly.

Someone had to be near here and it was had to be the kidnappers because no one in their right mind would come live this far out of the tribe unless they were hiding something, like a crazy guy's family. Sokka ran towards the smoke and he eventually came across an old campsite, there were many footprints and animal tracks and a pile of ash in the centre, where the smoke was coming from. Whoever was here, they had just left. Sokka heard distance shouts and followed their noise. Another cloud of smoke emerged from ahead; they'd stopped to make another camp.

Sokka reached the barbed wire border of the camp and looked for an easier way in. He couldn't be seen from where he was, there were many tents and metal dormitories blocking the view.

"If we're going to take a stand to those who oppress us we should stand up and fought for freedom!" a man clad in a dark grey and black suit shouted out. He sported a goatee, wore an eye patch on his left eye and his black hair was combed back smartly. He looked wealthy and, judging by the looks of his employee's equipment and weaponry, he was. Guards situated on his left and right carried crossbows made of metal. The other guards and soldiers in the camp carried similar weapons.

The man stepped onto a platform where another man was standing at a podium. The speaker was wearing black suit that matched his jet-black hair. He looked exactly like the other man, just slightly younger. The older man whispered something in his ear before walking off.

Sokka dug a hole under the barbed wire and slowly crawled his way in, through the tents and dormitories for a better view of the speaker, who looked like he was about to start speaking.

"Today marks the birth of a new age, a new legacy we will leave behind. This will be a fight our grandsons and granddaughters will read of in their school books and give thanks for at the dining table," he started.

Sokka crept closer to the platform the speaker was on, trying his best to stay as low as possible so the guards don't spot him. He promised he'd make it back and that's what he was going to do.

The speaker cleared his throat, adjusted his microphone and continued, "Let's get them back to their dorms, get them ready for this afternoon. We'll leave at midday." This time he was talking directly to the guards and soldiers.

The armoured men did as they were told and escorted the audience, which consisted of adults and children in plain grey uniforms, back to their dormitories. Those who didn't cooperate were pushed back in line or taken aside.

A young man, maybe a year or two older than Sokka, had been taken aside due to his lack of cooperation. One of the guards grabbed his arm and yelled something to him. The young man grinned and spat on the guard's shoes. Sokka grinned because he recognised the man.

"Third time this week," the guard said to the man, "When will you learn, Haru."

"I won't stop until you free my father, me and these people," Haru pushed the guard back. "We're all sick of being held here."

"You're not leaving until the plan has been executed, you know that," the guard stood up and dusted his armour off.

Getting around was now easier for Sokka because all the guards were occupied. He hid behind a large tent where he could get a close view of Haru. He was standing on the other side arguing with the guard.

"You're lucky there's no earth for me to bend here," Haru shook his head, "actually, I could still be able to do some damage if I wasn't in these shackles."

The guard laughed and grabbed Haru's arm, "Let's get you chained up with the rest of you vermin."

The guard and Haru vanished into a dormitory across from Sokka's hiding spot and, not long after, the guard walked out on his own. Sokka gave it a few minutes before he decided to make his way to Haru's dormitory. The whole area was quiet but loud shouts and laughs could be heard from the other side of the camp. Sokka slowly opened the metal door and cringed when as it squeaked. He peeped inside to check for guards but there weren't any. He opened the door completely and stepped inside. The dorm was dimly lit by one candle and smelt like smoke and sweat.

"Haru," he whispered. "Haru, are you in here?"

There was no response. The dorm was quite dark but Sokka could still feel eyes staring at him.

"Haru," he called out louder this time, "Haru!"

"Holy spirits," a voice called back.

He felt someone push him against the door and he fell face first out the dormitory. He quickly stood up and spat out the snow in his mouth. He wiped the snow from his face and opened his eyes. "What was that for?"

"I was excited," Haru shrugged, "I didn't know what to do."

"Next time a hug will do," Sokka smiled. "I need your help."

"I know what you're going to ask but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," Haru looked down at the shackles on his ankles. "The chain's only a few metres long. This is the furthest I can go."

Sokka sighed, "You know where the keys are?"

Haru shook his head, "If I did I wouldn't be here."

"Why _are_ you here?"

Haru quickly pulled Sokka back into the dorm and shut the door. "You think they saw us?"

"Who?"

"The Long Brothers."

"Who are they?" Sokka asked.

"They're the ones who put us in here, well, they're men. They come from a powerful Earth Kingdom family and plan to gain power with an army."

"You guys?"

"Yep, they are kidnapping the poor and the skilled. They've been paying off those who know of their plans, that's why I'm here."

"What?"

"They paid me to train these people, well, they were going to at least. When I arrived to their first camp and learned the truth behind their actions, their plans to overthrow the Earth King, I refused. They took my father hostage and promised they'd spare him if I helped."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Spirits, someone's got a lot of questions," Haru laughed.

"Aang, Suki, Katara and I are planning to break you all out," Sokka said, "I need to get back as soon as possible with some valuable information."

Haru sighed, "I don't know where he is. I don't even know if he's still alive."

The door squeaked and opened. Haru pushed Sokka under a bed and put his finger on his lip, "Keep still and keep quiet." The light from outside allowed Sokka to see the dorm's interior. There were at least thirty people; boys, girls, men and women, cramped on small wooden double bunk beds. He saw Haru jump on the bed he was hiding under as one of the Long Brother's entered the room.

"I heard talking. You all know the rule, no talking during lights out," he said. This was the younger looking brother, Sokka recognised his voice.

No one was speaking, sir," a little boy said.

The Long Brother looked down at the boy and tilted his head slightly, "Are you calling me a liar, boy?"

The boy sat quietly.

The Long Brother removed one of his gloves, "You know what happens to those who talk back, don't you, boy?"

The boy nodded slowly. The Long Brother shook his head slowly before hitting the boy's cheek with his naked hand. The boy, didn't react but a tears did form in his eyes. The Brother put his glove back on and looked at him, "This isn't going to happen again, you hear me?"

"Yes sir."

The Brother glared at the child for before leaving and slamming the door behind him. As soon as the door shut the little boy began crying. Haru jumped from the top bunk and hugged the boy tightly, "Don't worry, it'll ware off."

Sokka got out from his hiding spot and sat on the bed across from where Haru was comforting the boy. "I hate to say this but I need to go. I'll be back soon with my sister and friends and warriors." Sokka thought of what had just happened, "And some ice for the boy."

"Thanks Sokka," Haru said. "Be back before midday though, if you can't make it before then tell the guards to heavily secure the whole tribe."

Sokka opened the door slightly and saw that there was no one outside. He crouched down and slowly crawled backwards. He crawled until he bumped into something solid. "What the-" He turned around and his heart stopped beating.

"When did they bring you in here?"

Sokka shook his head in disbelief, "No way..."

"You act like you've just seen a ghost."

"I'm looking at one right now."


	12. Chapter Twelve

**AN: ****Ok, so I know my updates haven't been regular at all, I'm currently writing exams and can't find the time to write anymore so I've planned ahead, I've worked on both this chapter and the following one together so it should be up pretty soon. I love hearing from all of you &amp; I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:**

_**The South, Part Four:**_

**Attack on The South**

* * *

Aang landed gently on the snow. His glider automatically folded itself neatly and he leaned it against the wall. He walked into Bato's House, Katara was pacing up and down the passageway and Suki was lying on one of the couches.

"I'm guessing you guys didn't find anything either," Aang sighed.

Suki jumped when Aang began speaking. She hadn't heard him come in. Her eyes were red and looked swollen.

"Where the hell have you been?" Katara shouted. She had stopped pacing and was now pointing a finger at him.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I just-"

Suki interrupted him, "Is Sokka with you?"

Aang shook his head, "I thought he'd be back here with you guys by now."

"It's been nearly five hours," Suki said. "Where could he be?"

"Look at the weather, he could be under a few metres of snow," Katara said.

Sokka struggled to get back to Bato's house. It was nearly midday and the streets had begun to fill up. Lunar Day had officially begun. There were streamers being thrown in the air and parades through the streets. Little girls were dressed in white dresses and had white wigs on; they looked exactly like the Moon Spirit. Lunar Day was the celebration of the sacrifice made by the former princess, Yue, to save the moon spirit. Sokka hated it at first but later appreciated the idea, with a little support from his sister.

"How much longer till we get there?" his companion called out from behind.

"It's going to take ages to get through these streets," Sokka stopped in his tracks. He placed his hands on his hips and tried to think of another way back.

"You were always the 'Ideas Guy'," the companion said in between pants, "Think of something."

"Can't you see that's what I'm doing?" Sokka fired back. Sokka looked up at the decorations hanging above them and grinned, "I have an idea."

"Took you long enough."

"You still a good climber?" he looked back to face his old friend.

"You still dating that cute Kyoshi chick?" the friend smirked.

Sokka ignored his comment, "We're gonna use the rooftops to get back. Where we can't jump we'll swing on ribbons and balance on banners."

"Whoa, someone's a little too ambitious."

"No one said I was the '_Good_ Ideas Guy'," Sokka grinned and began climbing a shop's wall.

"Is Katara still available?"

"ENOUGH JET!" Sokka cried out for the fifth time in the past hour.

"Jeez, someone's moody," Jet laughed and followed Sokka up the wall.

The walls in the South were harder to climb than the boys thought it would be. Not only were they covered in fresh snow, they also were coated with a layer of slippery ice.

Finally, they reached the shop's rooftop. "Now all we do is run on the rooftops," Sokka turned around to tell Jet.

"You're kidding, right?" Jet whined.

"We don't have much time to before the Long Brother's do whatever they planned to do at midday."

"What's the rush though, we've already told your dad and his minions?"

Sokka couldn't help but laugh, "Minions?"

Suki, Aang and Katara searched the busy streets for Sokka for over an hour. Aang would sometimes fly over to get a better view.

"This is a waste of time," Aang sighed. "He said he was going further out the tribe so I don't understand why we're looking in the tribe.

"We have to at least try," Suki said. "I know Sokka, he's near... very near." Suki looked up and saw two figures jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Sokka and Jet raced on the rooftops, Jet was currently leading. The two hadn't bonded like this before; they actually hadn't had many one-on-one conversation with one another. Sokka actually thought Jet wasn't as bad as he remembered him.

"Is that all you've got Water Tribe," Jet called out to him from the roof ahead of the one he was currently on.

"Not everyone spent their early teenage years climbing trees," Sokka shouted back.

Sokka approached the roofs edge and leaped. Unfortunately for him though, the banner he planned to hold on to tore as he grabbed it. He swung on it and it completely ripped in two. Sokka fell back but luckily for him there was someone waiting below to catch him.

Sokka grinned, "Nice catch, for a girl."

Suki rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her smile. "Don't you start with that sexist crap again."

Aang and Katara weren't too far ahead, Aang on his glider and Katara on foot.

"Who were you talking to up there?" Suki asked Sokka.

"You could hear me?"

"Sokka, you're the loudest person I know," she laughed. "But you're not the craziest so you were obviously talking to someone."

"I don't think you'll know him," Sokka thought for a minute. "He was, well, is an old friend."

"Do the other two know him?"

"JET!" Katara's exclamation could be heard from where they were standing. Jet cried for air when Katara hugged him tightly. Aang laughed and the two shook hands, Jet let out a sigh of relief.

"Does that answer your question?" Sokka laughed.

"Sokka," Katara nearly ran straight into him. You won't believe you I found?"

"Actually I do and you're not the one who found him," Sokka smirked. "He's actually here to help us."

Jet put his arms around Sokka's shoulders. He was about a head taller than him. His face was covered in old scars and his chin in facial hair. His hair maintained its messy look but was now resting on his shoulders.

"I know where your hobo friend's family is and who's taken them," he said.

"We've alerted the dad and warriors about their plans-"

"What plans? Tell us everything," Aang interrupted.

Jet shook his head, "There's no time. The Long Brothers could be here any second. We need to meet up with the warriors."

"The Long Brothers?" Katara asked.

"No time remember," Jet smirked.

Jet, Sokka and the others made their way to the outskirts of the tribe. Water Tribe Warriors were guarding the border, heavily armed and ready for the incoming attack. Sokka picked a boomerang and sword up from the floor and took his position. Katara used her bending to create an ice wall just behind where they were standing, between them and the tribe. Suki held her bo staff tightly in one hand, a fan in the other.

Aang was about to get into position but was distracted by Sokka, who was doing stretches.

Katara rolled her eyes, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Stretching," Sokka reached down and held the tips of his shoes. He winced as he shot back up. "Its been ages since I last used my muscle, I don't want them failing on me."

Aang laughed loudly, "Makes sense."

The ground began to vibrate beneath their feet and the snow jumped as it did. Aang's laughter faded away slowly as the ground continued to shake.

"Aang..."

"I'm pretty sure I can't earth-bend through this thick layer of snow."

Tiny black figures appeared over the white horizon. They slowly became bigger and the closer they came the more the earth shook.

"What are those things?" one of the warriors asked. "I did not sign up for this."

Sokka laughed, "Welcome to my world."

The figures became easier to recognise. There hundreds of soldiers in heavy metal armour charging towards them followed by several mechanical vehicles Sokka had never seen before.

"Ok guys," another Warrior said, "remember to wait for the signal."

"Wait, what's the signal?" Jet asked, frantically.

"HAPPY LUNAR DAY!," all the tribe's citizens shouted out at once. Fireworks were shot into the sky and as they started exploding the Warriors and Team Avatar began charging at the enemy. Jet quickly pulled his hooks from their sheathes and charged behind the others.

Katara stayed ahead of the pack by riding the snow like a wave. She bent snowballs into ice crystal and shot them straight into a frontline solider. Two impaled his armour and he fell to his knees. She did this again, this time she made more and shot them at several different targets.

Sokka sprinted right into one of the soldiers, knocking him the ground. Three other soldiers ran towards him. He pulled the helmet off the collapsed soldiers head and threw it at the incoming soldiers. The helmet struck one of them on the shin and she fell to the ground, the blade she had been carrying pierced another soldier's calf and he cried out in pain.

The Long Brothers' army suddenly came to a stand still, which surprised the opposition. The ground began to shake again as the vehicles came closer. They were made of both metal and wood and were bigger than many houses in the tribe. Sokka could see the two Long Brother's sitting in one of the machines. The younger brother stared back at him and winked. Cannons emerged from the tops of the vehicles and pointed towards Sokka.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Sokka shouted out.

Aang blew Sokka out of the way with a gust of wind and the cannons' blasts struck the snow. Snow shot into the air and for the next few seconds it fell back to the ground. Sokka picked his boomerang up from the ground and ran towards the Long Brothers' vehicle. He threw his boomerang into the windscreen; the explosion glass rendered the Long Brothers' blind as they shielded their faces from incoming shards.

"Sokka careful!" he heard Suki call out from behind. He looked to his right and just managed to avoid a blow to the face from a soldier. Unfortunately another guard came from his left and struck him in the chest with his metal gloves.

Jet came from behind and sliced the soldier's back. The soldier screamed and swung at him but he wasn't quick enough for Jet, who grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. The first soldier, who looked much smaller, crawled out of Jet's way with his hands in the air. Jet stood over his body and picked him up.

"Please don't hurt me," he cried. "Please don't Jet."

Jet's grip tightened when he said he heard his name, "Who the hell are you?"

"It's me, it's me," the soldier said frantically and pulled his helmet off.

Jet's grip loosened when he saw who was behind the mask. It was the little boy from earlier, the one he'd comforted after he'd been scolded by one of the Brothers. The boy began crying and the whole battlefield fell silent. Jet held the boy close and turned to face the Long Brothers, who sat watching through their damaged windscreen.

"You're sending kids into the battlefield?" Jet shouted to them.

Hakoda made his way to the commotion and took the boy from Jet. He instructed one of the guards to take him back to the Tribe.

Jet helped the wounded Sokka to his feet, "You cool buddy?"

"I'm fine," Sokka lied.

Everyone was still quiet; no one knew what to do. The older brother climbed out the vehicle and looked around at scene. "Well, what are you doing standing around?" he cried out. "If you want equality, if you want the respect you deserve you'll fight!" No one moved and the brother grew more impatient. He turned to face his brother, who was still in the machine. "I guess we'll have to finish this ourselves then."

The younger brother pressed one of the button's on the vehicle's dashboard. A metal cylinder shot from the machine's cannon and landed just metres away from Katara's ice wall.

"You have one minute to drop your weapons and surrender or we'll blow that wall down and destroy that little tribe you call home," the older brother said.

Hakoda gripped his spear tightly, "We'll never surrender."

"Then I hope you've said goodbye to your homes." The younger brother pressed another button on the dashboard, which triggered the bombs 10 second countdown. Aang sprinted for the bomb, pushing himself faster with air. He picked it up and, with his glider flew straight up into the clouds.

"Aang!" Katara cried out but it was too late, he had vanished into the clouds.

Seconds later an explosion could be heard from above, Aang didn't return. Katara fell to her knees; her mouth gaped due to shock. "Get them in the vans, we're taking the Tribe," the brother instructed one of the soldiers. The older Long Brother turned and got back into the vehicle. The vehicles engines started rumbling as they prepared for their invasion.

Suddenly the sky went dark. "Not another storm," groaned the younger brother. "What should we do?"

"We'll just have to get this over and done with as soon as possible," the older replied. The younger brother didn't reply. "Didn't you hear me, I said we need to speed things up." The younger brother continued to stare at the sky.

"This is going to sound ridiculous but its raining fire," the younger brother said, staring at the incoming ball of fire.

The other brother looked at the fire blast and quickly grabbed his brother and leaped out the vehicle. The blast struck it and it burst into flames. Several other balls of fire struck the other machines and they all exploded.

"The Avatar," grimaced the older brother.

Aang emerged from the dark clouds, his eyes and tattoos glowing white. "Leave now," the voices from the past avatars could be heard from him as he spoke. "Don't disturb this nation's peace to gain your own. I'm giving you a minute to surrender, if you leave now you will be spared and all will be forgotten."

"What happens if we don't leave?" the younger brother shouted back.

"_Then I hope you've said goodbye to your homes,_" Sokka mocked them. Both brothers glared at him. "Your words, not mine."

Aang inhaled and exhaled a giant gust of wind, blowing all the soldiers and wreckage of their machinery back several metres. He landed gently on the ground and walked to the brothers, who were lying on the snow. He picked the older one up by the collar and looked him directly in the eye.

"Time's up."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Azula's Lies**

* * *

The heat of the floor could be felt through their shoes as they jumped off Appa's back. Suki struggled to open her eyes, the sun was shining brightly. Several guards crowded around them looking for something to assist with. A few took their bags to their designated rooms and the others helped Appa to the stables where he usually slept.

"Ah," Jet sighed. "The Fire Nation."

Jet had never been to the Fire Nation before. He'd heard it had changed since the war and so he was willing to give it a chance.

"I forgot how hot it is here," Suki said. She hadn't changed outfits since last being in the Southern Water Tribe so she was definitely overdressed.

"Well, it is called the Fire Nation."

"Oh shut it Sokka," she hit him over the head with her scarf. "I haven't been here in ages."

Sokka smiled. It would be nice to spend some quality time with Suki here before the other Kyoshi Warriors arrived for duty. Back in the Tribe there was too much that had to be done to do anything with her. Here though, there were little distractions and fewer people to disturb them.

"Sucks I can't stay here in the Palace with you guys," Suki sighed.

Sokka's smile disappeared instantly. "What do you mean?"

"I have to start training immediately after dinner."

"You're kidding."

Suki shook her head, "I wish I was."

Zuko smiled when he opened the Palace's doors and saw his friends standing near his its gate. "It's good to have you all back," he shouted out so they could hear him.

Katara and Aang waved back, Suki and Sokka were still talking to one another and Jet bowed awkwardly.

Zuko walked quickly down the stairs and welcomed his guests with a bow. He looked up and saw Jet staring at him. "I don't recognise you? Have we met before?"

"The name's Jet," Jet and Zuko shook hands, "I'm an old buddy of Sokka and Katara."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Fire Lord Zuko, also an old friend of Sokka and Katara," Zuko smiled. "I'll send someone to organise a room for you shortly."

Jet smirked, "I could get used to the Fire Nation."

Sokka's room had been rearranged; his bed was now underneath a long window and there was a new door leading into garden. Sokka threw his bags on his bed, stripped himself of his clothing and changed into something lighter.

Sokka sighed loudly, even though he was alone. He could see the Palace Gates from his room's large windows and the other Kyoshi Warriors had just arrived.

"May I help you with anything, Master Sokka?" a familiar voice said.

Sokka turned around and smiled when he saw who it was. "It's good to see you again, Ning."

She smiled, "I've heard it's been a pretty busy week for you."

"You know?"

"Fire Lord Zuko doesn't completely close his office doors most times."

Sokka laughed, "It's funny 'cause it's true."

Sokka continued to stare out his window as Ning folded Sokka's discarded clothes neatly and put them in a neat pile on his bed. "Princess Azula got back a few days ago," she said casually.

Sokka regained focus upon hearing her name. "What?"

Ning didn't repeat herself, instead she continued, "She's been quite happy, well, as happy as she gets. I think she might be seeing somebody."

"Seeing somebody?" Sokka's full attention was now on Ning. "You mean for her problems?"

"I mean a boyfriend, you idiot-" Ning covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's ok Ning, I get it all the time," he smiled and shook his head.

Ning let out a sigh of relief, "Where was I?"

"Azula's boyfriend."

"Oh yeah," Ning continued, "I think he's another patient from the clinic. I guess crazy people fall in love with other crazy people."

Sokka sighed, "I guess so."

Ning watched Sokka and squinted her eyes, "Is something wrong, Master Sokka?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Zuko's office had been completely refurnished, or unfurnished. The bookshelves that covered every inch of its walls were all gone, revealing the pitch-black wood paneled wall and single chairs had replaced the couches. The walls were naked except for the wall behind Zuko's desk. On the wall were different designs for buildings and cities. Sokka examined the wall closely.

"What's all this?" he asked.

Zuko, who was working on something at another desk on the other side of the room, looked up and smiled, "That's Republic City."

Sokka laughed, "You kept the name?"

"It has a nice ring to it," Zuko shrugged and continued doing what he had been doing before.

There was a knock on the door and Katara walked into the room. "Am I early?" she said after noticing that there was a lack of activity in the room.

"No," Sokka shook his head. "Everyone else is late."

"Really?" Katara was surprised. Aang was never late for anything, he was always exactly on time. That was one of the things Katara loved about him.

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asked, taking a seat at Zuko's desk.

"I actually don't know," Katara shrugged. "He has been a little off since the South though."

"Off?" Zuko wiped his hands off on his vest.

"He's been meditating... a lot. When he's not meditating I try talk to him but all he tells me is that he doesn't have time."

"It's been a while since he's been in the Avatar State, maybe it's taken its toll on him," Zuko suggested.

"Maybe."

The three stopped talking when they heard a crash come from outside. Zuko glared at Sokka, Sokka shrugged. "It wasn't me this time, I swear." Zuko sighed and left the room. Katara and Sokka followed.

The noise had come from the second gate near the stables. The guards were pulling something metal on a carriage. It was a damaged vehicle, one of the vehicles from the South. Katara looked back at Sokka, "Really Sokka?"

"Ok, maybe it was me."

"What is that thing?" Zuko said, his eyes glued to it.

"I don't know, that's why I had it brought here, so I can find out."

"And how are you going to do that?" Katara said with her hands on her hips.

"I can't, not alone that is. I'm gonna get some help but for now, I'll try on my own."

"Interesting," Zuko was still staring at it.

Sokka rolled up his sleeves, "I know right." He rushed to the machine and began tugging on random cables and pulling off hanging bits of metal. The blasts had done some damage, mostly to the engine, but the machines structure was still intact.

"Well..." Zuko rubbed his hands together. "I guess no one's coming to the meeting today then?"

"Hey, don't get all pissed off, I actually came on time," Sokka took his shirt off and used it to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "But now I have work to do, so if you'll excuse me..." Sokka pushed Zuko out of his way to the door. "...I need to get some tools."

Sokka had been wandering around the Palace Grounds for nearly half an hour and couldn't find a single person who knew where to find tools. He had checked an old shed in the flower garden but there was nothing but shovels and garden forks. Soon he found himself in a place in the Palace he'd never been to before. It was dark and smelt like sewage. There were green patches of moss on the walls and ceiling and the maroon carpet he was walking on was covered in mould.

"You're so screwed," Sokka said quietly to himself. "What the hell is this place?"

He turned a corner and jumped at the sound of rats. Sokka knew he'd die someday but he at least hoped it would be of old age and not of a heart attack. This corridor's walls had paintings of old, scowling people hanging loosely on it. The man in the painting at the end of the corridor looked familiar.

"Ozai..." Sokka grimaced.

He turned another corner and entered a new corridor. This time there were lit candles on the walls so he could see exactly where he was going. The candles flames burned a bright blue. Sokka smirked, Azula was obviously nearby.

At the end of this corridor there was a metal door with the Fire Nation emblem carved into it. Sokka knocked on the door and there was no response so he opened it and stepped into the room.

"Oh spirits... How did you manage to find me here?"

"Hello to you too," Sokka grinned and shut the door behind him.

"Don't close it."

Sokka shrugged, "Why not?"

"Because you were just leaving."

"Come on Azula, I just got here," Sokka whined.

"Well aren't you unlucky then," she smirked. "Close the door on your way out, it's pretty cold out there."

"Exactly! I don't want to go back into those cold, dingy passageways with the rats."

"And the spiders. You forgot about the spiders."

Sokka squealed in annoyance before sighing loudly. He looked up to see Azula shaking her head slowly in disappointment. She was sitting down on a small bamboo mat with her legs crossed and her hair in a neat bun. She looked healthier, much healthier, even though she was still wearing her clinic gown. Sokka sat down with his back against the door. "I'm not leaving, not even if you make me."

"On a normal day I would've accepted your invitation but today isn't a normal day," she smiled.

"What's different about today? Do you have plans with your new boyfriend?"

Azula's smile disappeared instantly and was replaced by a scowl, "Who told you?"

"So you're not denying it," he smirked.

"It was that servant wasn't it?" Azula glared at him.

"Wait," Sokka's smile widened, "before you ask me your questions you need to answer mine."

Sokka felt the room getting hotter and blue flames emerged from Azula's hands.

"It was Ning," Sokka uttered out quickly. "I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret-"

"There is no secret," the flames burned away, "And there is no boyfriend either."

Sokka stared at her for a while. "Something tells me you're ly-"

"Well I'm not ok," Azula interrupted him. "Can we just... leave it."

Sokka smiled, "This is so adorable. You two aren't together, you just like him."

"There is no boy, Sokka!"

"I didn't even know you knew my real name, you must be really touched if you're not even gonna call me names. Speaking of names, what's his?"

Azula sighed heavily, "Will you leave if I tell you?"

"I'll be out of here in a matter of seconds."

She sighed again, "His name's Jing-sheng." Sokka grinned his toothy grin. "What?"

"Azula's got a crush," he said with a little girl voice.

"You said you were going to leave," Azula whined.

"I lied and so did you; there was a boy."

"Really?" she rolled her eyes. "I lie to you all the time."

Sokka kicked the toolbox aside and admired his work. He had sketched the machine, it wasn't perfect, he drew it after all. He had labelled its parts and even given it a name.

"The Loud, Metal Doohickey?" Jet examined the drawing.

"I'm going to send it to a friend of mine," Sokka said, referring to the drawing and not the machine itself, although that was the original plan. Katara obviously denied the request, on behalf of Zuko. She still had a motherly like tendencies.

"Another friend I don't know?"

"The Mechanist."

Jet nodded approvingly, "I've seen his work."

"I helped designed that work," Sokka said.

"Yeah right, I can barely tell what you drew here," Jet laughed.

"That's just a rough," Sokka snatched the design from his hands, "If I had more time-"

"You spent nearly three hours working on that thing."

"Goodnight Jet," Sokka said bluntly before picking the toolbox up and walking back to the Palace entrance.

"Important meeting tomorrow!" Jet shouted to him.

"You mean the one you missed today?" Sokka shouted back.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Holy crap! It's been like 4 months since I last updated this story. I'm truly sorry, I had been busy writing exams and studying and I completely forgot to back to the story. Anyway, I hope to update more often! Here's chapter fourteen.**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Azula's Truths**

* * *

Team Avatar, Azula and Jet ate breakfast outside in the palace's gardens. Aang would break off a piece of his bread every few minutes and feed the turtle-ducks swimming in the pond. Azula sighed and rolled her eyes every time he did so. She definitely didn't plan on spending the morning with company. She usually either waited for everyone to leave the dining hall before eating or had breakfast in bed. Zuko insisted though, he said it would be fun. Azula hated to admit it but she was desperate, she hadn't had real fun in ages, so she agreed. Now she regretted it, the two siblings clearly had different views on fun.

Jet hadn't taken his eyes off Zuko's scar. Zuko noticed this and felt quite uncomfortable. He scooted over, closer to Sokka and Suki.

"I feel like I've met you before," Jet said randomly. Everyone looked up from their bowls and squinted their eyes, looking Jet.

"Of course you do," Sokka said, his mouth filled with noodles. "You met yesterday."

"No, I've seen your face somewhere," Jet's eyes squinted as he stared even harder at Zuko. "From way back"

"He's the Fire Lord, I'm pretty sure you've seen his face on posters before," Katara shrugged.

Zuko recognized Jet the moment they were acquainted the previous day. He hadn't said anything because he hadn't told the others about his life as a refugee back during the war. Most of Zuko's past remained a mystery to the group, none of them ever asked so he never told.

"You were there!" Jet jumped up and sent his bowl flying straight into the pond. The splash scared away the turtle-ducks, leaving a piece of bread floating by itself.

"Hey! What was that for?" Aang cried out. He already had another piece in his hands he was ready to toss.

"I was where exactly?" Zuko asked, trying his hardest to pretend as if he didn't know what Jet was talking about.

"That boat, the refugee boats on its way to Ba Sing Se. You helped my freedom fighters, well, what was left of them at least. You and I stole food from the captain and we shared-."

"I don't think-"

Jet interrupted Zuko. "You were there with your fat uncle who drank tea, like, all the time!"

"He's clearly not mistaken, it was obviously you Zuzu," Azula sipped from her cup of jasmine tea.

Sokka laughed, as usual, at her nickname for Zuko. Zuko glared at him then looked back at Jet, who had strange look on his face. Zuko couldn't tell whether he was angry, or about to burst into tears.

"Jet," Katara said, concerned, "Are you ok?"

"You were fire nation the whole time?" Jet completely ignored Katara's question. Jet's face turned red as tears ran down his cheeks and his hands balled into fists.

"Listen now Jet, don't do anything stupid," Zuko said.

"Your nation ruined the world! What could I do that could compare to that?" Jet exclaimed.

"I know what my nation did and I'm sorry if you were hurt by any of it-"

"Hurt? You've done more than hurt me…" Jet paused, his eyes shut and he tried to hold back his tears, "You ruined my life."

"My father ruined your life," Zuko slammed his fist on the table and all the dishes and bowls on it flew into the air. "He ruined mine too. He ruined my sister's as well."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you ruined my life," Azula said to Zuko.

"Now's not the time, Azula," Zuko said back, his eyes still on Jet. Jet wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve and placed his signature wheat stick between his teeth.

"I'm outta here," Jet started walking towards the palace entrance. Jet spat on the ground and turned back to the others seated at the garden dining table. "Out of all people, the Avatar sold out."

Tears began to form in Aang's eyes. Katara placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. "Don't listen to him. There's no reason to be upset, honey, some people change."

"I'm not upset because he's changed, I'm upset because he hasn't."

Jet left the palace a few minutes later. Zuko organized him a ship to the Earth Kingdom but he turned it down. Aang and Sokka watched from the steps as Jet dragged his belongings behind him and left the palace gates.

Aang hadn't said a word since the incident during breakfast. Sokka playfully punched his shoulder and smiled at him, "You okay?"

"Jet's right, I sold out."

"You didn't sell out Aang. Jet's mind's still stuck in the past and so he can't cope with the idea of the Fire Nation not being the bad guys anymore. To Jet the war didn't end."

Aang sighed and leaned back on his elbows. "That's because it hasn't. Ozai's been defeated and now we're left cleaning up the mess he left behind. The war won't be over until the world is at peace."

Sokka sighed and shook his head, " You and I both know the world will never be at peace. There's always going to be those who go against what we believe in."

"Then my job will never complete."

"You mean _our_ job."

Aang smiled, "Our job."

Sokka stood up and dusted his shorts off. "Listen, you're not alone in this. You've got a family behind you every step of the way."

Aang smiled at him and he made his way back to his room to changed into an older outfit of his. He planned on spending the rest of the day working in the shed. He figured the Zuko would've cancelled today's meeting after the incident that took place during breakfast. Second in a row, Sokka thought to himself. Zuko wouldn't take this well.

"_Settle down!" Zuko shouted, his hands clenched into fists and his face red from his frustration. "Just shut up!"_

_The room fell quiet. The others with him stared at him silently before bursting out with laughter, everyone except Katara. Katara took meetings very seriously, especially those that had something to do with the Water Tribes._

"_Whatever Sparkie," Toph laughed._

_Zuko pulled at his hair, "How many time's have I told you to not call me that Toph."_

"_A couple times," she shrugged. "Doesn't mean I'm planning on stopping anytime soon."_

"_Chill out Sparkie," Sokka added, making Zuko's face burn even more._

_Aang jumped to his feet and bowed to Zuko, "Flameo Sparkie." This made Toph and Sokka laugh even harder than they had been before. Katara couldn't hold back her laughter either._

_They usually never annoyed Zuko, well at least not intentionally but today was different. Zuko had made the others cancel all their plans to attend meetings for the past few days, meetings that he'd cancel last minute. The gAang was fed up and so they decided they'd ruin the meeting for him. Maybe if this meeting was so bad, they'd never have to attend another. _

Sokka opened the door to his room, Ning was making his bed. Sokka felt bad whenever he saw Ning doing such menial tasks, he was raised to do these kinds of things on his own. He offered to take over but Ning shook her head.

"Don't stress about it, it's what I'm here for," she smiled. He, Katara and Aang were the only three people in palace who saw her as more than just anther servant.

"I'm heading out to the shed to add some finishing touches to my machine design. According to Jet it looks terrible but I don't think he has a fine eye for art like I do."

"Design?" Ning raised a brow.

"Yeah, I painted it on the scroll that was on my bed."

Ning's cheeks went red, "Uhm… I think you're going to have to make a new one. I kinda threw the last one away."

Sokka was putting on a pair of sandals but paused after she spoke. "What? You threw it away? Do you know how long that took me to do?"

"5 seconds?"

"C'mon Ning, it wasn't that bad."

Ning pointed towards the little waste-bin in the corner of the room. "It's in there if you'd like it back. I'm really sorry."

"Don't stress, I'll just make a new one."

Aang knocked on the door and walked into the room. He smiled at Ning and threw himself down on the newly made bed, completely ruining it. He rolled onto his back and let out a loud sigh.

"What's up?" Sokka asked. He had become used to Aang randomly barging into his room. He had done this same thing wherever they went together.

"To be honest," Aang sighed again, "I'm not even sure. Ever since the encounter back at the South Pole things have been pretty weird. Not only is there some sort of rebellion being planned-"

"Weren't you aware of the rebellion though?" Sokka asked.

"I was but that didn't make actually witnessing it any easier than it did. So many innocent people were there being forced to fight someone else's battle."

"That's war Aang, at least you managed to stop them before anyone got seriously hurt. Just imagine the amount of power they could have gained if we weren't in the South to stop them."

"It's not over," Aang sat up. "The Long Brothers come from a rich, high-class family and have tons of connections all over the world. There's no way they were in on this on their own."

"You're not alone either," Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder. "You've never been and you never will be." Aang sighed. "I think all you need is some time to think, maybe some rest. You might be the Avatar but that doesn't mean you aren't human."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Sokka turned around and was surprised to see Azula standing in the doorway. Ning immediately bowed. "Yes you are actually," he said. Ning eye's widened. She couldn't believe Sokka spoke this way to the Princess; no one else did or at least lived to tell their tale.

"My brother's looking for the Avatar," she said, her eyes squinted and arms crossed. Sokka swore she was trying to set him a light with her mind.

Aang stood up and sighed, "Thanks Sokka."

"Anytime Aang," he smiled at the younger boy before he left the room.

Azula glared at Ning, "Don't you have things to do?"

"Sorry Princess," she said before dashing out of the room and into the passageway.

"Don't you have things to do either?"

"I do, actually," Azula smirked at him and left, closing the door behind her.

Azula never failed to confuse Sokka, he felt like he knew a lot of information about her and yet didn't know her at all. She was a mystery.

Sokka walked into the palace library. Every inch of the wall was covered in ancient books. In the middle of the room there was a spiral staircase leading to the next level of the library where there were more books lined on the walls. The room was brightly lit with candles and lanterns, unlike the dim lighting of the passageways.

Sokka needed a quiet place to draw up his new design and this room was the only one in the whole palace where no one made a sound. It was perfect.

Sokka sat down at one of the desks in the room and began painting. This time he took his time and paid attention to his strokes. No one could hate this now, he thought to himself. It wasn't until he was halfway when he realized his design looked nothing like the actual machine.

"I guess I should've used it as reference," he said aloud to himself.

He stood up to leave the room but stopped when he thought he heard footsteps. He looked around, he was alone. He walked towards the door but then stopped when he heard a book fall upstairs on the higher level of the library. He put his parchment down and walked slowly up the stairs, maybe he had just walked into some private meeting. He'd done it before.

He saw the fallen book lying on the floor and walked to it. He bent down to pick it up. "_The Meaning of Love_," he raised his eyebrow and shrugged. Fire Nation Royalty didn't seem like the "loving" type to Sokka.

He slotted the book back into a shelf and paused when he heard footsteps again. It had to be Azula. She was the only person in the palace who spent some time in the library.

"Azula…?"

He heard a sigh come from the other side of the shelf. Yep, it was definitely Azula. He walked around the bookshelf and there she was. By the looks of things she was just browsing through books.

"I never knew savages could read," she said. She hadn't taken her eyes off the books.

"There's a lot you don't know about us actually," Sokka glared back. "We're not savages by the way, we're people."

Azula didn't respond. She had found a book worth reading, a reddish brown old looking one. She pulled it out and pushed passed Sokka.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"To read, this is a library. Don't you have them where you're from?"

Sokka continued to glare at her and she smirked.

"Do you enjoy seeing me upset?" he asked, following her down the stairs and towards the couch situated at the end of the room.

"Yes," she answered bluntly.

She lay down on the couch; her legs hung over one armrest and her head leaned against the other. She was in her usual dark red and black armour but Sokka hadn't seen her this casual before.

"Why?" he asked.

She looked over at him, "Because I do. Now can you please leave me to read?"

Sokka pouted and sighed. Talking to Azula wasn't easy. "Yeah whatever."

Sokka's trip to the library had been pointless. After his short conversation with Azula he had went back to his room. He didn't know how long he'd been in the bath for but he didn't want to leave, even though the water was now cold.

He sighed; the Fire Nation wasn't as fun as used to be. He missed home, he missed his family, and he missed Suki. He thought about what Aang had said earlier, about the rebellion. Was the South really safe now? Was the world?

Sokka groaned, he hated being uncertain and confused. For years, no matter where he went, he was always the one with the ideas. To those around him he always had a plan. Sokka sighed. He stepped out of the bath, wrapped himself in a towel and walked into the room. He sat down on the bed and looked outside the open window.

The sky was a dark red; the sun could barely be seen over the mountain-like edges of the crater the Capitol was situated in. The clouds were now a dark purple and masked the sun's weak rays. It looked beautiful. The Fire Nation was beautiful.

"No views like this back where you're from?"

She was standing in the doorway again, this time her arms weren't cross and she seemed less tense and arrogant than earlier.

"Azula? Wha-"

"You left this behind," she placed his machine design on one of his side tables.

"Uh…thanks," he said, he couldn't hide his confusion. "Thanks Azula."

She looked at him for a while; they were both silent, then she left. It was the small things like this that confused Sokka. She wasn't making any rude remarks, lying to him or doing anything else she'd usually do. She was being nice. Sokka looked over at the design and smiled.

She was being real.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**AN:  Long chapter and a quick update, you guys deserve it! **

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen:**

**The Old Merchant**

* * *

Sokka sat on his bed and stared at the stars. Usually he would've closed his window by now but the weather in the Fire Nation was so warm and the Palace so safe that there was no need.

He took the machine design from the side table and looked at it for a while. It was no good, his art was no good. Maybe his friends had been right all along. The design looked like something an infant had painted, with its eyes closed and its left hand.

He sighed and threw the parchment across the room and into the bin. Zuko could hire a professional artist to do it for him, if he could find the time for Sokka that is.

Azula was the only person he had to talk to when he was in the Fire Nation and she didn't even enjoy their conversations. Why would she bring his design to his room for him? It was unlike her. It was nice. Sokka felt bad for throwing it away now. He took the parchment out the bin and placed it in a drawer underneath his bed, where Space Sword and Boomerang belonged.

He closed the drawer and went back to his previous position on the bed where he had been sitting and admiring the Nation's views. If you had told him he'd be sitting here, in the Fire Nation Palace looking out at the Capitol from his window before meeting Aang he would've laughed in your face and called you an idiot. Things had definitely changed, for the better and for the worse.

He barely saw his family or spent time at home. He was now an important figure in society. An inventor, designer and one of the world's finest swordsman and problem solver.

Problem solver? He shook his head and sighed. Clearly he wasn't good at that. All his issues would have disappeared by now.

_"But how come when Katara does it she doesn't get into any trouble?" he cried out. His mother laughed. Sokka's lips were pouted and his arms were crossed. _

_"You're her older brother," Kya smiled at him. "You're supposed to be setting an example for her. She learns more from you than she does from anyone else, I can promise you that." Kya looked outside and saw Katara pulling faces at them. She laughed. "I can definitely promise that."_

_"So why am I get in trouble for her problems? It's not fair."_

_"Because you can handle them Sokka, you've always been good at taking things on with ease. As for Katara…"_

_Sokka laughed, "She's special."_

_Kya laughed too, "but she's the good kind of special. The type that will never let you down and will be there for you no matter the circumstances. The type that loves."_

Sokka missed his mother. He didn't show it or mention it to anyone but he did. He thought about her every once in a while when he would see something that would remind him of her, usually something Katara would say or do. She had grown up to be almost exactly like her.

Sokka couldn't take staying here in this room, thinking, anymore. He needed a break. He looked outside his window; the garden was empty besides for some wildlife. Maybe a walk is what he needed.

The wind was chilly; Sokka never knew it was possible for Fire Nation weather to be like this. He had never once worn more than one layer of clothing since the day he first arrived here, now he was outside wrapped in a thin maroon blanket and dressed in his full everyday light and dark blue attire.

Azula was in the library; he could see her silhouette walking past the library window every now and again. Her behaviour and attitude had been strange, Sokka needed answers. Maybe it was her new boyfriend; maybe he's making her see things better.

Sokka chuckled; he couldn't imagine Azula with a boyfriend, or at least the Azula he thought he knew. She seemed so self assured and independent, qualities that Sokka was slightly jealous of. She didn't need anyone's approval, permission or opinions. Azula does what Azula wants to do. Sokka wished he had that freedom.

He did have it easy compared to the others here in the Fire Nation. Katara, Aang and Zuko were in and out of meetings and Sokka would accompany them and take notes from Zuko. That's what he was here for after all. His stay here began to feel very pointless. He missed travelling the world like how it used to be just after the war and the first few meetings and celebrations that followed.

"Are you ok, Sokka?" Katara had spotted her brother sitting on the grass banks while taking a walk around the gardens.

Sokka smiled, his face was only just peeking out from his blanket cocoon. "I'm fine, I guess."

Sokka replied with a weak smile and walked on. She was kicking a rock along the brick pathway.

"Are _you_ ok, Katara?"

She stopped and kicked the rock into the pond. "I'm just… worried. I'm worried about everything."

Sokka smiled and patted the grass next to him, "Talk to me, that's what big brothers are for."

She sat down next to her older brother. She joined him in looking at the city. "It's beautiful."

"The most intimidating and daunting things always seem to be once you're familiar with them," Sokka said. "It's the same with people."

Katara pulled some grass out from the ground and began playing with it between her fingers.

Sokka watched her then continued to look over the Capitol. "We were so quick to judge this place. We were quick to judge the people of it. There was no denying the environments beauty. In very nation there's bad and there's good. Everyone makes mistakes but its how we prove our worth after them that defines us."

Katara looked over at Sokka. "Where'd you get all this from?"

He laughed a little and pointed at his head. "You think all I have to say is food related or some lame joke?"

"Uhm… yeah," she laughed. Sokka didn't. "I'm only kidding, of course I know the other sides to you. We've been through basically everything together."

Sokka smirked, "Well, not all _everything_."

Katara blushed and punch his shoulder, "Sokka!"

"Hey!" he rubbed his arm. "I didn't mean it that way. You took it that way, you dirty minded girl." Katara shook her head. "Besides, Aang's a monk so you two probably don't do anything _exciting_ anyway."

"We have fun."

"Kiddie fun though. Riding bikes and splashing in the pool?" Sokka grinned.

"I'm not comfortable talking about this with you."

"Oh," Sokka smirked and nodded his head, "So there is something to talk to about?"

"Can't we just change the subject?" Katara cried out in annoyance. "What were you doing outside here on your own?"

Sokka looked back at the view of the rest of the Capitol. "I needed a place to think."

"If anything's bothering you…"

"I'm fine, Katara, but thank you," he smiled. "I think I'm ready to go back inside. I'm hungry."

"When are you never?" she laughed.

Dinner was cold. He had missed dinner while he was bathing and so his meal was set-aside for him. He was too hungry and too lazy to ask one of the servants to reheat it so he ate it cold. There was another bowl set next to him without meat so it had to be Aang. Aang always lost his appetite when he was stressed or down.

After eating he made his way back to his room to call it a day. The passages were quiet. Everyone had been in bed for a while now because it was late. The library was still brightly lit despite the time. What was she up to?

He tiptoed into the library and scanned the room. She was the couch she had been seated on earlier. Her eyes were closed and her arm hung over the edge of the couch. Sokka smiled, she had fallen asleep.

"Azula," he whispered. "Are you up?" She didn't reply. Honestly, what did you expect, he thought to himself. He looked at her again and laughed quietly, he couldn't leave her here. He knew if he touched her she'd set him on fire but what else could he do? Every servant in the palace was asleep.

He leaned down and cautiously slid his one arm under both her legs and the other across her back and slowly stood back up wit her in his arms. He didn't wake up. Her mouth was slightly agape and her hair had fallen out of its usual topknot.

He carried her through the passages to her bedroom. The door was slightly open and he pushed it with his foot to let himself in. The bedroom was a mess, something that caught Sokka by surprise. Her clothes from the day before were lying on the floor, along with a few towels and torn and damaged books. Her bed wasn't made and her curtains were singed at their bottom. What had happened here?

He gently placed her on her bed covered and tried to make his way back out without stepping on anything that lay on the floor. At the doorway he stopped and looked back at the room and at the Princess. He felt bad, he wished he could help her but Azula never let anyone in. She pushed any help she received from others away.

The next morning Sokka woke up and rushed down to breakfast. He'd been meaning to go out to the market and go shopping since he'd first arrived back from the Southern Water Tribe.

"My glider could use some repairs," Aang said with his mouth filled with food. "Maybe we could get you a new nightdress, Katara."

"What happened to your old one?" Sokka grinned at his younger sister.

Katara glared at him. "I spilled last night's dinner on it and now it's stained." He squinted his eyes and smirked. She rolled her eyes.

The three of them were the only ones at breakfast. Zuko had left in the early morning for a trip to Ba Sing Se to visit his uncle. He did this quite often, usually when the stresses of being Fire Lord became too much for him to cope with.

"So Miss Moody's been left in charge again?" Sokka groaned.

Aang chuckled, "Mai's not that bad…well, if you get to know her she isn't."

"Well I don't want to."

"I wouldn't want you to," Mai said, she sat down on the opposite end of the table and a servant quickly rushed into the dining area with her breakfast.

"Is this ok with you?" the servant asked her about the food.

"It's good," she nodded. "Thank you."

The servant bowed and rushed back into the kitchen just as quickly as he had left it.

Mai and Zuko had officially broken up two years earlier, this time for good. Things hadn't been the same between them and with every break up and every reunion things became less exciting and dull.

Zuko trusted her more than anyone though and the next year made her his chief royal advisor and deputy. This meant that all discussions made while Zuko was away were made and finalised by her.

"Where've you been the past few months?" Sokka asked.

"Places," she answered bluntly. She didn't look up from her meal when speaking to him.

Sokka and Mai were opposites and so they never managed to get along. To be honest, they never tried to. Things weren't bad between them the first time they were introduced at Zuko's coronation ball. Things went down hill when the team had their first meeting with the world's leaders and noblemen the following day. Sokka and Mai never agreed on anything, their clashes made the others in the meeting feel awkward.

Sokka ate the remainder of his breakfast outside on the palace steps. Suki had just arrived with the other Kyoshi Warriors. She led the girls around to the palace's newly installed dojo. Zuko had built it especially for their training sessions. She spotted Sokka and waved at him. He smiled and waved back.

Suki said something to one of the other girls. The girl nodded and she led the girls the rest of the way. Suki walked to the steps and sat next to Sokka. Her smile made him smile again.

"I missed you," he said.

She rolled her eyes, "I was gone one day Sokka."

"Longest 24 hours of my life." She blushed and kissed him on his cheek.

She leaned back on her elbows but Sokka still kept eye contact. "How's Azula doing?"

Sokka squinted his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"How's she doing?" Azula sat up again. "Ty Lee's been telling me all about their past friendship. Behind all the crazy she sounded like she was a nice person. I also know that, besides Zuko, you're the only person she talks to around here."

"I don't know how she's feeling but she has been acting really weird these past two days."

"Weird?"

"She's been… nice to me."

Suki chuckled, "That is pretty strange."

Katara and Aang came outside dressed in their most casual outfits, ready for their trip to the market. "Ready Sokka?" Aang exclaimed. He was wearing a straw hat and had a straw in his mouth that resembled Jet's signature one. "Cause I sure am."

"It's shopping," Sokka put his bowl down beside him and stood up, "This is shopping we're talking about!"

Katara rolled her eyes but smiled. Suki laughed as the two boys discussed the items on their shopping lists.

"We should get going because I want to be back before lunch," Sokka dusted his pants off.

The market was abuzz. The streets were noisy and packed with people from all around the world. There were so many stalls the three didn't know where to begin.

"That looks interesting," Aang pointed at a stall selling Fire Nation clothing. "This time we could buy them instead of stealing them off some family's washing line." The other two laughed.

The clothing stall was between two different food stalls and Sokka found it hard to focus on the selection of clothes with the different aromas around. He took a step back and could see a whole range of stalls, varying from food to clothes to games and there was also live entertainment.

One stall stood out for him. It was a smaller stall than the others and with no decorations hanging on its top or even inside. An old man stuck his head out and looked directly at Sokka. His stall was nearby but his face was too far to make out.

The old man waved at him and signaled for him to come to him. Sokka looked around confused. Was this directed at him? He looked back at the old man's stall and he had no disappeared.

"Guys," Aang and Katara looked back at him, "I'll be back in a few. I'm gonna go grab a snack." He lied.

Katara rolled her eyes, "I'm not surprised."

Sokka glanced back at the stall. The whole thing, wooden frames and all, had vanished and been replaced with a very loud and busy gambling spot. It was like it was never there. That was strange, he thought. He must've been seeing things.

"What do you think?" Katara showed off her new maroon slippers. Aang nodded in approval but Sokka didn't take notice. "Sokka?"

Sokka continued to stare at the gambling stall. One of the gamblers was looking back at him now. The gambler smirked and pointed towards the back alleyway behind the market. Sokka looked in the direction the man was pointing at and there he was, the old man.

Sokka ran towards him, pushing through the crowded streets. He made it out of the swarm of people and the old man had disappeared again.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sokka cried out loud. He'd come all this way for nothing.

Katara and Aang pushed through the crowd. Trying to get through proved more difficult for the two of them as Aang's fan base consisted of many local Fire Nation citizens who would crowd around him, asking questions or asking him to air bend for them. When they'd finally made it passed the hoard of people, Sokka was gone.

* * *

Mai sat at Zuko's office desk, organising the range of quills scattered on the desktop. Zuko's lack of tidiness got to her and so whenever she was assigned to assume his duties while he was away, she cleaned up and re-organised his office space. It wasn't fun, but it took her mind off things.

Mai and Ty lee hadn't spoken in over six months. Ty Lee was always travelling with the Kyoshi Warriors and when she wasn't she was on the beaches of Ember Island, doing who knows what. Mai chuckled, she knew what. Ever since her last breakup with the Fire Lord, she agreed to be open with her. Ty Lee often was the only person Mai had to talk to, about anything.

Mai opened the office's curtains; her eyes took time to adjust to the sun's brightness. Everything cleared up eventually and she saw the Warriors walking to the dojo.

The one leading the group seemed more lively and energetic than those following her. She pranced around on her tiptoes and every now and then did a cartwheel or handstand. Mai sighed. Ty Lee was back. The two had a lot of catching up to do.

She slid the large dojo door's open, revealing the girls training on the equipment and one yelling encouraging comments to those at work.

"When were you planning on telling me you're back?"

Ty Lee turned around and smiled when she saw Mai's face. She jumped enthusiastically and ran towards Mai, her arms wrapping tightly around her tall, thin friend.

"Mai! I missed you so much," Ty Lee said. Her arms wrapped tighter and Mai let out a quiet squeal. "Oh, sorry," Ty Lee's face went red and she put her friend down.

Mai straightened out her clothes with her hands and touched up her hair. "I'm not going to lie, I missed you two Ty Lee."

Ty Lee sat down on one of the floor mats and she crossed her legs. She smiled, "You only miss me when you something's bothering you and you have no one to help you through it. Tell me what it is this time."

Mai sighed, "You know what's bothering me, Ty Lee."

"You haven't spoken to him about it? I thought you would've by now."

"I didn't know he'd returned from the Southern Water Tribe yet. I saw him for the first time since… since the incident this morning and Aang and Katara were there."

"Sokka has to know, you can't carry this secret on your shoulders any longer than you have already."

"It's not my place to tell him, it's theirs. They'll tell him when their ready to."

Ty Lee sighed, "Which could be never."

"Which could be never," Mai repeated. "I agree, he needs to know but I don't think I should be the one to tell him."

"Who's keeping secrets now?" Suki interrupted. She nodded at Mai, Mai replied with a weak smile. "Ty Lee, we need you to lead the stretches."

Ty Lee nodded and looked over at Mai, "I'm sorry Mai. Another time?"

Mai nodded back and left for the Palace. She was surprised to see the office door open. She could've sworn she closed it on her way to speak with Ty Lee. She walked inside and saw someone else was sitting in Zuko's seat, organizing the stationery.

"Azula?" Mai rarely saw Azula. She actually couldn't recall when the last time she saw her. She looked completely different to how she had remembered, there were no bags under her eyes, her hair was neat and tucked into a knot and her hands weren't trembling and shaking as she sorted Zuko's things.

"Sorry to disturb," Azula dropped the parchment she had been holding and stood up from the chair. "I was trying to-"

"Help me?"

"To help you. Zuko never tidies up after himself, a trait he most probably got from our uncle, yet every now and again his things were neat and organised. I knew it had to be you."

"Azula… is everything okay?" Mai asked. The Azula she remembered never helped others, unless she had something to gain from them.

"Nothing's okay."

* * *

Aang and Katara searched every last inch of the market place and the areas around it. There was no trace of Sokka.

"I should've brought my glider with me," Aang jumped down from the top of a building and used his bending to gently land on the ground. "I could've flown over the whole of the Fire Nation, I could've found him."

"We've done all we can for now, Aang," Katara placed her hand on his shoulder. "He probably ran back to the Palace for food. He did mention it. Maybe there was nothing he liked here."

"Sokka, your brother, could be missing," Aang said. "You seem pretty relaxed."

"That's because I know Sokka can take care of himself and if he isn't back at the Palace as we speak, he'll be there before dinner."

Aang smiled and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him. "You're right. Sokka's probably fine."

* * *

**AN:**** I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 16 is already in the works so hopefully I'll have that up soon for you all. Thanks for reading. Leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter, the story or both. Till next time, Flameo!**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen:**

_**The Scroll from Home**_

* * *

Zuko left the docks and headed straight to where he'd be staying for the next three days: The Earth Kingdom palace. He hated travelling on ships; it reminded him of the years he spent banished. Zuko pushed those negative memories to the back of his mind and stay focused.

Business and politics in the Earth Kingdom was tricky. Most of the Fire Nation's wrath was directed at the nation. Its locals weren't willing to forgive so easily. Zuko didn't blame them. He'd won the throne from his sister, Aang had stripped his father of his bending and Zuko had put him behind bars and yet he didn't forgive the two of them for all they'd done to him.

Due to Earth Kingdom's citizens' negative feelings for the Fire Nation Zuko wore dark cloaks during the nights or local Earth Kingdom clothing to blend in during the days. He undid his knot and let his hair cover his eyes and his scar. Hiding around the Earth Kingdom wasn't as easy as it had been with his uncle because know Zuko was the Fire Lord. He was famous now and so his face was very recognisable.

His uncle was the only beloved Fire Nation citizen in the whole of the city. In the three years it had become the go to place for, not only tea, but other refreshments and sweet goodies. The Jasmine Dragon was on his way to the palace, he'd stop there and see his uncle. It had been too long.

He walked into the store and was immediately swarmed with young waitrons requesting to serve him. Zuko shook his head and walked straight to the manager's office.

One of the waiters grabbed Zuko's arm, "Excuse me sir, that room is only reserved for the manager."

Zuko smirked and pulled down the hood of his cloak. The Jasmine Dragon had had a lot of renovations and extensions since it was first opened due to its increasing popularity and success. Zuko smiled, he was proud of his uncle. He deserved this.

He knocked on the office door. There was no answer but he could hear shuffling and objects crashing to the ground. He sighed; his uncle hadn't changed at all.

"Uhh…" there was a loud crash. "Uhm… who's there?"

Zuko chuckled, "It's me."

The door opened quickly which frightened Zuko, making him jump back. His uncle smiled and hugged him. Zuko was here often, more often than anywhere else outside the Fire Nation but Iroh always acted like he hadn't seen him in years every time they were reunited.

Zuko hugged him back and patted his uncle's back. "I missed you too, Uncle."

Iroh pulled away and smiled, "Everything good back home?"

Zuko nodded, "The small riots around the nation have stopped. I guess people have given up all hope of my father ever returning to the throne."

"Or maybe they've grown to like you," Iroh smiled. "Didn't I tell you they would? People are afraid of change. It takes time to let go of this fear."

Zuko smiled. "We're planning on renovating around the palace. Well, I haven't told anyone yet. I was thinking maybe, if you're not too busy, we could… do it together. The gardens, the furniture…"

Iroh chuckled, "Zuko, admit it, you miss having me around?"

Zuko scratched the back of his neck and chuckled as well. "I knew you'd complain about the lack of tea leaves in the gardens. This way you can plant whatever you want and have it whenever you want."

"I trust your judgment…"

"But not when it comes to teas."

Iroh shook his head. "But not when it comes to teas," he repeated.

The two laughed together.

* * *

"Azula, talk to me. Please."

Azula sat down on the desk behind her, her arms crossed around her legs, which were on her chest. Mai walked over and leaned on the desk, beside her.

"You've had it rough," Mai placed her hand on Azula's back. "No one expects you to bounce back quickly or easily. Talking about what's bothering you might help though."

Azula didn't reply. Mai looked over at her, her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying.

She sighed, "You know where to find me if you need anything." Mai said, before standing up and walking towards the door.

"He left me."

Mai stopped. She turned back. Tears were forming in her friend's eyes and her voice was croaky.

"What?"

"He said I had issues. Well, obviously, who doesn't carry burdens? Who doesn't have regrets?" She balled her fists and shut her eyes, hoping to stop the tears. "Who is who they really say they are?"

Mai, at first didn't say anything. She was overwhelmed. Azula had never opened up about anything, not even when they were still kids. She always appeared calm and composed. Nothing fazed her.

"Your friends," Mai said. "Your friends are who they say they are."

"I don't have any friends."

Mai walked back to the desk and stood in front of the princess. She looked up and was surprised to see Mai was smiling.

"I'm your friend."

Azula sniffed and smiled back. "Thank you."

"Azula…" Mai hugged her. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You don't have to try being perfect anymore. He's not watching your every move anymore."

"_He_ isn't but everyone else is."

* * *

Katara and Aang had walked back to the Palace. The two were surprised to find that Sokka wasn't there. He had been gone for nearly four hours now. Where could he be?

Katara was beginning to get worried. She didn't show it though; she didn't want Aang to stress about it. He already had his own issues to deal with. She could handle her brother.

Katara lay on Aang's bed, staring at the ceiling. Aang walked into the room and laughed, "What are you doing, Katara?"

She sat up and smiled at him, "Well, I _was_ thinking before you rudely interrupted my train of thoughts."

"Rudely interrupted?" Aang crossed his arms, "This is _my_ bedroom." She laughed and he smiled and shook his head. "I'm gonna take a bath, I'll probably be a while so I wouldn't mind if you left."

"It's okay," Katara lay down on the bed again. "It's cooler in this room than in mine anymore." He smiled at her and grabbed a towel from his cupboard.

"Babe, could you do me a favour?"

Katara squinted her eyes at Aang, "depends what it is."

He grinned and shook his head. "I think I might've left my robes in your room earlier. Could you please go check for them for me."

Katara smiled, "Sure Sweetie."

Katara left the room and made her way to Aang's, which was all the way on the right wing of the Palace. Aang and Sokka preferred this side of the wing because they had balconies that overlooked the rest of the Capitol and Fire Nation.

She walked passed her brother's room and was surprised to see that the door was slightly ajar. Maybe he'd come back. She knocked on the door.

"Sokka," She said loudly. He could've been asleep. She wouldn't be too surprised. "Sokka, are you in there?"

There was no reply so she walked inside. Ning had obviously been here sometime while they were away because the room was spotless and everything was neatly arranged. He wasn't in there though but something was.

"Hawky?" Katara laughed. "It's been a while."

Sokka still used Hawky, usually to communicate with Suki while he was still in the Southern Water Tribe and she was here in the Fire Nation or somewhere in the Earth Kingdom working. The last time Katara saw Hawky was a few months back, while back home. Sokka had lent him to his father.

Katara lifted the bird up gently and untied the ribbon that held the message to its leg. Hawky squawked and flew out of the open window. She resisted the urge to read it; it could've been private. She left on his bed and continued on her way to Aang's room.

* * *

Iroh poured his nephew a cup of jasmine tea. Zuko had grown to love his uncle's teas. He'd jokingly asked him to teach him and Iroh obviously was willing to.

"I don't want to give Toph something else to tease me about," Is what he'd always say. Iroh would laugh.

His uncle handed him the cup and he sipped it slowly. He looked back at his uncle and smiled, "Thank you."

His uncle nodded back and sat down across from his nephew. The two sat in silence and every now and then Zuko would glance outside the window.

"Looking for someone?" Iroh asked.

Zuko shook his head, "No. I guess I'm just…" he sipped his tea and continued, "I guess I'm nervous.

"Nervous?"

"Things never go as planned when I'm here," Zuko sipped his tea, "When I'm in the Earth Kingdom. I don't think they'll ever forgive the Fire Nation for what we put them through. I don't blame them."

"We? Zuko, you had nothing to do with anything your father did during the war. You have unfairly been held responsible for all his wrong doings but you can change that."

Zuko leaned back and sighed. "I've tried, and tried."

"Then keep trying. The Zuko I know never gives up. Even when you felt as if the world was against you, your own nation fighting against your rule, you endured. You can try, once again, and succeed like before."

"I haven't succeeded in anything, more than a third of the Fire Nation once me taken off the throne and my father back to take his seat on it."

Iroh leaned over the table and put his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Your father is where he belongs and he is not going anywhere. Soon the Fire Nation will realize this, but until then, do your best. Don't let them get you down."

Zuko stood up and put his cloak back on. 'Thanks for the tea Uncle."

"Where you off to?"

"Work," Zuko placed the hood back over his head and left his uncle's teashop.

* * *

Katara snuck out of Aang's room after he'd fallen asleep. Sokka had still not returned, his room was untouched. She decided to speak to Suki; maybe she would be aware of where he is or at least where he could be. Katara laughed quietly to herself, he was probably with Suki right now. The two of them often snuck around, it was no secret, mainly because they weren't very good at sneaking around.

She pushed the heavy palace doors open and made her way down the stairs. The air was cool, well, as cool as it could be in the Fire Nation and the sky was a light shade of dark blue. It wasn't very late yet; Suki would probably still be awake.

She checked the Warriors' dormitory. She must be in the gym, Katara thought to herself and made her way there. She walked in; it was very dimly lit with only one candle. Suki was sitting with her back towards the door.

"Hey Suki," Katara said softly, just in case she was asleep.

Katara walked around Suki and sat in front of her. She was holding something; it was the scroll Hawky had left in Sokka's room earlier that day.

"Suki, is everything alright?"

Suki didn't look up from her lap and passed Katara the scroll. Katara patted Suki's shoulder and gave her a tight hug. "I'm here if you need anything," Suki said. Katara didn't understand where it came from but she smiled at her friend.

Katara stood up and read through the scroll. Suki watched her smile fade away. Katara's eyes began to water and she dropped the scroll. She looked down to see Suki had previously been crying. Katara fell to the ground and burst out in tears.

Suki wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry Katara…"

* * *

Zuko sat down in the Earth Kingdom palace's meeting room. All the world's leaders were present, all except one. Hakoda had probably sent Bato on behalf of him because he was present at the meeting.

Bato spoke first, "Zuko, we have tragic news from the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko nodded, "What's happened?"

Bato sighed and a tear rolled down his cheek. One of the other leaders passed Zuko a Water Tribe scroll and Zuko read through it. Zuko's eye's widened and he looked up from the scroll to Bato.

"Hakoda's… dead…?"


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen:**

**Sokka Alone**

* * *

Sokka coughed, his throat was dry. He reached for the pouch of water he had in his satchel. He pulled the pouch out and gulped down the little remaining amount of water he had. He needed to find more water or the heat would kill him. He held his makeshift tree branch spear and continued his journey through the forest. The Fire Nation had gained a whole lot more vegetation since Aang and Ozai's final battle. Sokka preferred it this way. The people of the Fire Nation did too.

He continued his trek. The land became steeper the more he walked; he must've been walking up a hill of sorts now. He looked up at the sky, it was beginning to get dark, He needed a safe area to set up camp and spend the night.

He walked and walked and eventually the grass beneath his feet became patchier, revealing the old, cracked bricks beneath it. He had made it. The Sun Warriors' ancient city. Most of the architecture had been covered and invaded by weeds and vines and other vegetation. Sokka had never been here before. It was quite breathtaking.

He had to stop admiring though; he was here for a reason. He cleared his voice and called out for the old man, "I followed you all this way and you bring me here? Here to this abandoned city?" There was no response. His voice just continued to echo across the empty city.

Sokka rolled his eyes and sighed. He slid down the building he had been standing on and searched for the old man. The old man had given him this satchel, with tools and water and told him to meet him here now he was no where to be found.

Sokka struggled to open his eyes. The sun was shining brightly and he had fallen asleep outside where its rays struck him directly. He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the burning sensation.

"Finally," he heard a voice say, "You're up."

"And you're finally here," Sokka replied bluntly.

"I was always here," the old man kneeled down next to Sokka. "I've always been here."

"I don't need to hear this story again, the one where you tell me how you've been stalking me for basically my entire life, watching my every move and listening in on my every conversation."

"You know I didn't do it for my own sake."

"I know, I know. You were hired to. By who I don't know yet," Sokka opened one of his eyes and looked at the man.

"You'll find out soon enough," the old man stood up. "Better yet, you'll meet the person soon enough. Get up."

Sokka ignored the man and lay on the ground. The old man kicked his side and Sokka winced because of the pain.

"Spirits! I'll get up, I'll get up!" Sokka quickly stood up and dusted his clothes off.

The old man smiled at him and began walking to wherever he planned on taking the young man. Sokka picked up his satchel and mumbled "Crazy old man," under his breath.

"I might be old but I'm not deaf, Sokka," the old man said. Sokka glared at him. He hated the fact that this complete stranger knew not only his name, but everything about him.

"What kind of sicko hires a spy to spy on a young child, until he's nearly 19 years old?" Sokka said, glaring at the old man. He couldn't see it though, but the old man could feel it. "Whoever put you up to doing this must be some crazy ba-"

"He's a smart man," the old man interrupted. "Smarter than any other man alive today. A living legend."

"Sounds to me like you have a little crush on this boss of yours," Sokka snorted. "I'm not judging, just saying you know, just do you."

"Are you implying I'm homosexual?" the old man stopped and looked back at him.

"I wasn't implying it, I said it."

The two glared at each other for a while longer before the old man pulled away and continued walking. Sokka followed on.

"There's nothing wrong with being homosexual by the way," Sokka said, breaking the long silence they had had.

"I'm old school," was the old man's reply.

"And clearly love stating the obvious."

"If I wasn't getting paid for escorting you right now I would be on top of you right now."

"Yeah you're definitely gay," Sokka teased.

The old man stopped and rubbed his temples with his fingers. Sokka was beginning to get on his nerves and he knew he was doing it on purpose.

The two continued to bicker, well, Sokka continued to make fun of the old man and the old man tried to back himself up, for nearly an hour. They were now back in the forest following a sand path to wherever this mystery man was.

"We'll set up camp here," the old man said as he dropped his belongings on the grass.

"It's not gonna be dark out for hours," Sokka looked up at the sky. "We can cover more ground if we continue walking."

The old man ignored Sokka speaking and began putting up his tent. Sokka crossed his arms and watched angrily as he did so.

"Suit yourself," Sokka continued to walk on the path. "I'll tell your man friend you said hi."

"Sokka I advise you listen to me and stay here, it's not safe for you to continue walking."

"In broad daylight?" Sokka laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

Sokka continued through the forest on the path. He walked for about half an hour before he had to leave the now blocked pathway and trek through the thick green of the forest. He made sure he walked not too far from the path, he needed to still be able to see it because it was his only way to his destination.

_"__All will be answered shortly," the old man said as he walked into his tiny hut-like house. _

_"__Could you at least tell me who you are and what do you want from me?" Sokka asked, following the man into the hut. "Your name would be nice too."_

_"__My name is not relevant," the man said. He was busy with something on the floor. Packing maybe? "As I told you before, I'm more of a messenger and so can't answer your questions."_

_"__Then who will?" Sokka said, slightly irritated now. _

_The man didn't reply, instead he continued to pack things into a brown, leather satchel. _

_"__I've got people waiting for me, I need to head home," Sokka said after a few silent minutes of him watching the old man. "Thanks for wasting my time though, with your weird spy story and stuff."_

_Sokka turned and headed straight for the door. He had had enough of this crazy old man and his silly stories. Nothing he said made sense to Sokka. When he wasn't ignoring Sokka's questions he was reciting riddles and singing old poems. He was very strange. _

_"__If you leave now you'll never know the truth about what happened to your father," the man said. _

_Sokka froze at the door. "Whatchu mean?" Sokka asked, turning around to face the man. "My father's perfectly fine. I know because I saw him not even a weak before."_

_The old man stood up and looked back at the young man. "You do not know?" Sokka shook his head. "Your father… the Southern Water Tribe Chief…"_

_"__Yes, that's him," Sokka said, annoyed._

_The old man patted Sokka on the back. "I know what happened to him, Sokka, and I know someone who knows who did it."_

_"What are you on about, crazy old man?" Sokka asked._

Sokka yawned. He struggled to lift his legs, which struggled to carry his body. It was late, very late, and Sokka hadn't had enough time to rest. He had taken a few minutes every hour or so but it was ineffective. He was exhausted.

He'd lost the path a while ago and, although he wouldn't admit it to himself, he was now lost. He was walking in an unfamiliar land with little resources, weapons and in the dark. Pretty stupid for the so-called "_Ideas Guy_", he thought.

* * *

He didn't know how long he'd been out for but judging by the scorching heat and the bright and cloudless sky, quite long. He stretched his limbs, making weird noises as he did so. He laughed on his own. He slowly opened his eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the sun and quickly closed them realizing how bright it actually was.

"He's up," he heard a child's voice say.

"Give him some time," another voice said, probably her mother. "He needs more time to rest."

Where the hell was he? Who were the people talking? He tried and this time successfully opened his eyes. He squinted as he looked around the area he'd been lying in. A stable. He could hear the noises and grunts of the animals but couldn't see them very well just yet, his vision was still a little blurry.

"He's up!"

He looked in the direction of the voice. He could see a small child's figure and walking towards them was the owner of the other voice.

"Good morning," the older voice greeted sweetly.

Sokka could swear he'd heard her voice somewhere before. He rubbed his eyes and blinked quickly. He could see the child. Her skin was pale, her eyes golden and her hair was very dark, almost black. Sokka smiled, she was adorable.

He looked up at the older person. She had her dark brown hair in a messy bun with some loose hair covering some parts of her face and her big eyes a hazel colour. She was smiling back at him. He smiled back.

"It's nice seeing you again, Sokka," she said.

"Feels like it's been ages," he smiled back and looked at the young child, "It's clearly been a really, really long time."

The older girl burst out laughing, "She's not mine, dumby. She's my older sister's child. I'm just taking care of her for a while."

Sokka let out a loud sigh of relief, "Thank the spirits, or else Zuko would have some explaining to do."

The two laughed together.

"It's good seeing you again, Jin," he said, giving her a tight hug. "Thanks for bringing me here." He looked around and smiled. "I probably would've been something's breakfast if I'd stayed out there for the whole night."

She giggled, "Come inside, my mother's prepared a meal for you."

"It's okay Jin, you've done so much for me already. I couldn't-" Sokka was interrupted by the loud grumble of his stomach. He blushed, "Maybe a few bites, but that's all."

He followed Jin and her niece out to the main house. It was reasonably size and, like most houses Sokka could see, was made of wooden panels. Zuko had moved Jin and her family to the Fire Nation after her old house was burned down during a revolt in Ba Sing Se, nearly a year before.

Sokka walked into the house and spotted the dining table covered with delicious smelling food and jugs of fresh juices. He licked his lips animatedly and helped himself to as much as he could. He was more than starving, he was ravenous.

Jin joined him at the table. The two of them munched down on the majority of al the food and let out loud burps afterwards. They both looked at the other and laughed.

"That. Was. Amazing," Sokka said, patting his stomach.

Jin wiped her face with a cloth. "So what are you up to here in the Fire Nation?"

"Just helping out I guess," Sokka said. "My dad kinda sent me here so Zuko could babysit me but at least Zuko knows I'm capable of actually helping out. I know most teenagers say this but my dad just… doesn't get me. You get me, right?"

Jin didn't reply. She just looked at him. He noticed that her mood had suddenly changed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"…You don't know about what's happened to the Southern water Tribe, do you?"

Sokka raised a brow, "…no…"

Jin looked down at her hands and then back up at him. "Some group, or something like that, invaded the city. They kidnapped young children, captured the warriors. Who knows what they did to their wives…"

Sokka shook his head. "It can't be true, my dad would've never let that-"

"Your father was killed during the invasion, Sokka."

Sokka paused. He stared at her, his vision blurred in his eyes as tears built up. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "No, it's not… It…" he sniffed, "My father's alive."

"She's telling you the truth."

He turned around to see Katara standing at the front door, with Aang. She was dressed heavily; it was obvious she was most likely heading to the South.

"Jin sent word to the Palace when she found you last night," Katara said, her voice was cold, basically emotionless. She threw a bag on the floor. "Get dressed, we're leaving."

Before Sokka could say anything she was out. He looked to Aang, who smiled weakly at him. Katara hadn't taken the news well either, it was obvious. She was angry. He didn't blame her though because he was too. Sokka stood up and picked the bag up from the floor. He turned around and thanked Jin for all she'd done for him and she smiled back. Sokka opened the bag and put on his heavy coat and gloves.

He walked outside. Katara was seated on Appa. She looked down at the two boys, "If we're going to make it before nightfall we should leave now."

Aang nodded and jumped on to his bison's back, gently lowering himself down on the saddle with his bending. Katara glared down at her older brother. Sokka threw the bag up. "I have a place I need to go."

"We'll all go together," Aang suggested.

"No," Sokka turned around, looking up at a tall mountain in the distance. "This is something I've been told to do alone." He turned back to face the young Avatar and his younger sister. "But I do need you to take me back to the Palace to get my-"

Katara threw down his boomerang, Space Sword and his club. Sokka looked down at the weapons on the ground and smirked, "What exactly are you two planning on doing in the South?"

Katara smirked back at him, "Doing exactly what dad would."

Sokka looked down at the weapons silent for a while before talking again after what felt like ages, "There's one more favour I need from you."

"Which is…?"

"Get me Azula."

Aang and Katara looked at each other, confused.

"She'll know why when she gets here."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen:**

**The Fall of the Fire Nation**

* * *

Katara slid down Appa side, making the bison grunt a little. Aang chuckled and patted his flying friend on the head. Katara smiled.

For the first time ever, it was slightly chilly in the Fire Nation. The breeze, although not as cold as what Katara was used to, made her feel uncomfortable. It was strange, something was wrong about today.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" a royal guard was walking towards her.

Katara faked a smile and nodded, before proceeding into the empty hallways of the palace. She didn't want to stay long; something was off about this place today. The corridors were so empty and lifeless she could hear her own thoughts echo within them.

She knocked on the princess's door several times but every time was followed by silence. She tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Azula," she called out, knocking again. "Azula it's me, Katara… uhm, can you open up for me?"

She heard movement coming from the opposite end of the door but the door remained locked and no one replied. Katara sighed.

"Azula, please. This is impor-"

The door quickly swung open, revealing a spotless and we'll organised bedroom and a more presentable and composed looking princess. Her eyes were colder than the weather and her face didn't even try hiding her disinterest.

"What do you want?" she said, coldly.

Katara couldn't help but feel… happy to see the princess in a way. She could still see old scars and fading bruises on her skin but besides that, she looked relatively normal.

"Are you just here to waste my time then?" Azula said. She placed her hands on her hips and lifted a brow.

"Uhm…" Katara cleared her throat. "Sorry to disturb you, but this is really important."

"I don't owe you any favours."

"I know I know, but it's not really for me. It's for my brother." Katara noticed Azula's body tense up when she mentioned Sokka. "He's up in some mountainous place and be says he needs you for something."

"For what?"

"He didn't say exactly, but he did say that you would know what he needed."

Azula looked back at her closet before turning back to face Katara, who was looking awkwardly down at her feet. "I'll meet you outside."

Katara looked up at the princess and nodded. She didn't ask any questions in case she struck one of her many sensitive cords and set her off. Instead she just walked back out to where Aang and Appa had been waiting.

Azula closed the door when Katara left and turned to face the closest once more. She swallowed hard. For the first time in forever she was nervous. She walked towards it, slowly, and opened it. She dug through her many pieces of clothing until eventually she found what she had been looking for.

It was a small box, not any bigger than an apple, and was well decorated with precious stones and fine carvings. She opened the box, revealing a small red gem. She closed the box and placed it in her pocket. There was something else she needed, but it wasn't here though.

His room, thanks to the lack of his presence, remained clean and so finding what she was looking for in it didn't take long. She dug through his desk drawers and pulled out an old scroll. She unravelled it, examined it and then rolled it back up. She took one of his satchels and put the two items in it before walking out to meet Katara like she said she would.

"Ready?" Katara asked.

"I wouldn't be out here if I wasn't," Azula handed the satchel to Katara, who threw it up on Appa's saddle. "Is that all? Aren't you bringing any bags?"

"Why would I need to bring bags?"

"Sokka said he needed you there with him, for whatever he needs to do."

Azula raised an eyebrow, surprising Katara. She had thought Azula would know what she was required to do for Sokka, well, that's what he had told her anyway. She looked back at the Air Bender who shrugged back at her.

"Listen," Katara started, facing the Princess once again, "I don't know what he needs you for but it has something to do with our dad…" Katara paused and looked down at her boots, "This is kind of important for the both of us. I know you don't really like me." Azula cleared her throat and Katara quickly corrected herself. "I know you hate me, but please if you won't do this for me… do it for him."

Azula chuckled, why would doing something for Sokka be of such importance to someone like herself. Her smirk didn't linger though, she didn't know why she stopped but she just did and with it came a thought that she had to try push to the back of her mind. She shook her head quickly, confusing the other two.

"Uhm… Azula…if you really don't want to you don't-"

"I'll come with you," the Princess interrupted.

Katara smiled, "Thank you." She was surprised Azula agreed but she didn't show it. If there's one thing she knew about the Princess is that she needed to always be prepared and have a plan, Katara had to pretend to be sure of what was going on.

Azula reluctantly climbed up Appa's side and onto his saddle. Katara followed and, once she was up on the flying bison's back, Appa took off. Azula gripped the saddle's edge tightly, this was the first time she'd been on Appa and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. She tried to maintain her blank facial expression though but struggled too with loose hair from her traditional bun blowing across her face. Katara chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Azula spat.

Katara smiled, "This must be very different to flying in one of those metal airships."

"To think I thought being in one of those was the worst way to get around," Azula replied, a slight smile creeping onto her face.

Katara smiled. "You know Azula," she started, "I've never actually seen you outside the palace grounds…" Azula looked down at her hands and let out a sigh. "I've guessing it's got something to do with Zuko?"

She shook her head and looked up from her hands, which were balled up in her lap. "No, it's my choice to stay in the palace, it's safer for me there. I am a terrorist after all."

Aang sat down next to Katara. She wrapped her arms around his and rested her head on his shoulder. "You can change, Azula."

Azula didn't reply, instead she looked back down at her hands and closed her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of Katara and Aang so she chose to end their conversation before she did. She hated talking about herself and the things she'd done during the war. There was once a time when she was proud of her "achievements" but now she wasn't sure anymore. Was she really a bad person? Did she really have everything figured out? Everyone assumed so, after all, she was known to be prepared and ready for anything, almost impossible to defeat and even more prepared to die for her nation and for her father.

She hadn't seen her father since his defeat. She knew Zuko visited him every once in a while and he'd once invited her to accompany him but she chose not to. She couldn't face him because inside she still felt like she had failed him, that she owed him… that he owned her.

Flying to wherever Sokka was located didn't take as quickly as she'd planned. She hadn't even packed a bag of changing clothes because she thought she'd be back home before dark. She couldn't have been more wrong.

"Here," she looked up at what sounded like Aang. She couldn't see him clearly in the dark of the night. "You're cold."

"No I'm not," she replied, unfortunately she said so with her teeth clenched and her voice shaky. She was cold, extremely cold.

"You've been shivering for the past half an hour, take it," She reached out and grabbed the blanket he had held out for her. "If you need anything else just ask."

* * *

Sokka sat, his legs crossed and hands in his lap, waiting for the first sign of the flying bison's return. He was seated on a mountain's ledge where he could get the best view of the surrounding area and make a rough map of it all on some spare parchment he found in his satchel. It wasn't the best map but it was the best one he could come up with his limited resources.

The trek back to the old man's campsite wasn't an easy one, he had gotten lost on the way again but he needed answers and the man claimed to know who could answer them for him. Going back was obviously something he had to do and, because he hadn't brought Katara along on this weird, mysterious journey, he had to go alone… well, not completely alone. He'd have company, the Princess's company to be more specific.

Why'd he need Azula? He needed her because she knew the Fire Nation, its history, every secret underground passageway and the location of any monuments better than anyone else he could possibly think of. She had mentioned on numerous occasion how such information was drilled and imprinted in her brain since she started attending school, her father's idea of course. Besides, she'd make a better tour guide than the old man, he still needed information from him though.

Sokka approached a makeshift tent of leaves and loose tree branches. The old man was definitely around here somewhere. Sokka called out but there was no reply.

"I knew you'd come back," he jumped at the sound of the man's voice behind him.

"Holy Spirits!" Sokka placed his hand on his chest as he tried to catch his breath. "Couldn't you have just tapped my shoulder or something?"

The old man completely ignored him, instead he reached down for his belongings, "I'm assuming you're back because you're finally ready to continue this journey with me?"

"No actually, the complete opposite. I just want to know exactly where we're going and what I'll need to do when I get there."

"Wait," the man froze, "you're planning on going on your own?"

"Well…"

"Unless you have someone well informed of the Fire Nation you'll never find where I'm planning on taking you, not even the greatest of explorers could."

Just then the sky above them went black. Sokka looked above, something had blocked out the sun, a dark cloud of sorts. He smirked. It wasn't a cloud.

"Matter-of-fact, I do have someone to help me navigate through this supposed _mysterious underground Fire Nation_ place."

Sokka rushed through the forestry, followed by the old man, following the Bison in the sky. Appa landed not too long after and all his passengers climbed down from his saddle, all but one.

"Azula," Sokka chuckled, "I know you're up there you know."

"She's been quite quiet since we picked her up," Aang said. "Maybe she's homesick."

Sokka shrugged, "Maybe."

Katara turned round, only noticing now that the teens were not alone. "Sokka, who is this?"

The old man bowed, "My name is-"

"He's the crazy old man that kidnapped me," Sokka interrupted. "The same old man that's going to help me find out what exactly happened to dad."

"How would he know what happened to your father?" Aang asked. Aang didn't know what it was but he wasn't getting a good vibe from the man. Something seemed off.

"That's because he's a _Cìké_," the group looked back at Azula, who'd finally climbed off Appa's back. She was leaning against his side, her eyes cold as she glared at the old man.

"This old man's an _assassin_?" Sokka laughed. "By the looks of things he was an assassin way back in Avatar Roku's days."

Azula crossed her arms. "That's exactly what he was, or is." She walked over to the man. "He was a part of a larger group that was later disbanded by my grandfather and exiled. There has been rumours that they've come out of hiding but I didn't think they were true, honestly, I didn't think you and your people were real until I recognised the tattoo on your arm."

The old man quickly pulled down his sleeve but not before Sokka caught a glimpse of the black and maroon serpent tattoo on his forearm.

"The Red Shé," Azula leaned back on Appa again, this time she looked at the water tribe siblings. "The Fire Nation's secret assassination organisation… and those responsible for the death of your father."

The man chuckled, "That's quite the accusation you're making Princess. If I played a role in Chief Hakoda's death why would I be going out of my way to help Sokka find those responsible?"

Azula smirked, 'Tell me then. Where are _'those responsible'_ hiding? By the looks of things we're in the middle of nowhere, far from civilisation and far enough for you to murder Sokka."

"Whoa okay," Sokka shook his head to clear his mind. "Why would some major assassination group be after me out of all people."

"The same reason why they'd kill your father," Aang said, "Because you're standing in the way of their plan, we all are."

"What do you mean?"

Aang glared at the old man and gritted his teeth, "I mean he's working with the Long Brothers and the rest of the rebellion."

The man chuckled once again, "That's ridiculous."

"Then tell me why you keep eyeing the forest behind us. You're looking to run from this."

Just then the man attempted a run for the trees but was quickly stopped by Azula who blocked his route with a blast of her blue flames. "You're not going anywhere. I'm pretty sure whoever your employer is wouldn't be happy knowing you'd failed your mission anyway."

"Failed?" The old man smirked. "I succeeded a long time ago. Everything went according to plan."

"How could drawing us out in the open only to be caught out be your plan?" Just as Katara said this however, they all knew the answer.

"If we're out here that leaves Mai alone in the Palace…"

Sokka smirked, "We're forgetting the Kyoshi Warriors."

The man stood up form the ground where the blast had knocked him and dusted his robes off. "The Warriors were not forgotten but that was not my duty. Mine was to remove Sokka from the city, knowing you'd come looking for him."

Sokka balled his fists and was about to charge for the man but Katara held him back. "Sokka, we can't waste any more time here on him. We need to get back to the Capitol."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," The man pulled out a firecracker of sorts and shot it into the sky. "You four aren't going anywhere just yet."

Immediately after the cracker burst in the air the bushes rattled and men in red and black robes jumped from the bushes, shooting flames at the teens from all angles.

Aang had seen them just in time to block his friends from their shots with an earth wall. Azula lunged over the wall and fired blasts at three men standing just behind it. Two weren't quick enough and were pushed back by the flames. The third however jumped back and fired his own blast back at her. She dropped to her knees, dodging the blast.

Aang pushed the wall forward, knocking a few of the men down, not for long though. The men hopped back up and fired continuous shots at the Avatar. Aang redirected the blasts, scorching their robes. Katara used this opportunity to bend the water from her pouch into a whip and lash the men.

Sokka, in the midst of the madness, spotted the old man trying to make an escape. He grabbed Space Sword and followed him through the trees. "Running won't get you far, you know."

"No one said I was running," the man turned round and fired a charged wave of flames at Sokka, who flew back due to its powerful impact. "The Avatar was right, killing you would make this all easier for us."

Sokka coughed as he struggled to get back on his feet. "Killing me won't be easy," he managed to get in between coughs.

The man chuckled, a ball of fire hovering in the palm of his hands, "I'll be the judge of that." He threw the ball at Sokka. Sokka rolled out of its way and, with the momentum, jump to his feet and picked Space Sword up from the ground.

Sokka didn't waste time on a smart comeback, instead he charged for the man. He swung for the man's head but he ducked down. Sokka immediately swung downwards, slicing the old man's ponytail off. The man punch Sokka in the core, taking him back a few paces but Sokka went for another swipe of his sword, this time the sword came in contact with the old man's arm.

The man cried in pain and collapsed on the ground. All Sokka could see was blood pouring out of the man's left arm. The man used his right arm to pick himself up and fired a string of scarlet blasts, charged with both pain and anger, towards Sokka. Sokka jumped out of the blasts' way and rolled to the man, swinging Space Sword for the man's injured arm.

The man breathing accelerated when he saw what he'd done and Sokka couldn't believe his eyes either. The man crouched down and cried loudly, holding his left arm in his left hand.

Sokka took a few slow steps back, expecting the man to take his rage out on him with more firebending. The old man dropped his arm and ran towards Sokka, who sprinted back to Appa and his friends.

Sokka had managed to lose the old man on the way back to where his friends had been. When he'd arrived they'd just knocked out the remaining assassins and the four climbed on Appa and rushed back to the Palace and Capitol.

* * *

The Palace's courtyard was surprisingly quiet. The group had expected to find a swarm of more assassins waiting for their return. Then again, they weren't meant to be returning. Aang landed Appa and the four jumped off his back.

"Where is everyone?" Katara asked.

"This can't be good," Aang said.

Azula balled her fists, "Silence is never good in moments like these."

Azula ran towards the Palace doors, the other three followed. She blasted the doors open and ran down the passageway towards Zuko's office. The door was closed but instead of crashing through this one she stopped outside it. The other three caught up with her.

"Why'd you stop?" Sokka asked her.

Just then her fists were covered in her signature blue flames and she punched down the door and fired short blasts at the assassins behind it. The group walked in and surveyed the scene. There were already many bodies lying on the ground. Mai must of put up a fight, but where was she now and where were the Kyoshi Warriors. Just then the group heard screams coming from someone from the opposite room.

Aang broke down the brick wall with his earthbending and there was the source of the muffled screams, Suki.

"Suki!" Sokka cried out and immediately made his way towards her. She mumbled something into the cloth that was covering her mouth and shook her head. Her arms were tied behind her back and her knees and ankles were tied up in rope too. Sokka approached her and attempted to undo the rope. She kept mumbling but none of it was audible.

"Something doesn't feel right about this," Azula said.

"You're right Princess, once again," the old man emerged from the shadows behind Suki. His face was droopier than before and his eyes cold. He kicked Suki's body aside and, as expected, Sokka stood up and pushed the man back against the wall.

"What did you do to her?"

The man smirked, "_I've_ done nothing, I was with you in the forest after all but I don't know what _they _did."

Sokka and the others watched as a swarm of men dressed in the same attire as the rest of their team burst through the gates of the palace. The screams of the citizens of the capitol could be heard from where they were along with the sounds of explosions in the distance.

The man laughed, wickedly, "Today the Fire Nation falls." The man pushed Sokka off of him and in a split second he charged a bolt of electricity through his fingertips, firing it straight at Suki.

"Suki!"

The sound of the havoc of the invasion outside was blocked out by the crackling noises of electricity rushing through Suki's body and her barely blocked out screams. Her body lay on the ground twitching for only a few seconds. Sokka and the others watched in shock, motionless. Suki's screams stopped and so did the twitching.

"She's… she's gone."

Sokka grabbed the old man by the collar, pinned him down and started bashing his face in with his fists. The man laughed, which aggravated Sokka even more. The sight was uncomfortable to watch, too much for Aang who pushed Sokka off the man.

"Violence won't solve anything Sokka," Aang shouted. Sokka grunted before pushing him back and grabbed the old man again. Aang grabbed Sokka by the arm and pulled him off the man.

"What are you doing helping him Aang?" Sokka shouted. "He's killed my father, my girlfriend-"

"Killing him won't get them back. I lost my whole nation but I never let my anger cloud my judgement."

"Well, I'm sorry Aang but I'm not you," Katara said, picking up Space Sword and planted it through the old man's chest. "Just when I thought I had my father back for good these guys come along and take him away from me."

"Katara… what have you done?"

"Although you might be against it, the right thing."


End file.
